For Whom The Bell Tolls
by MeltingSunlight
Summary: Hermione might be a volatile murderer, but Bellatrix loved her. Hermione death eater AU and Bellamione femslash. Revised and updated
1. Chapter 1

"Shut the fuck up, Yaxley."

Yaxley didn't look affronted, but stopped whistling nevertheless. Coarse language wasn't exactly going to offend his delicate ears and besides, Hermione wasn't one to be challenged, especially not when she was already in such a volatile mood. Dolohov raised an eyebrow to himself but Bellatrix didn't show emotion either way, just continued to stare considerately into the middle distance, leaning casually against the wall opposite Hermione.

They had been patiently waiting in this dark, decrepit alleyway for over half an hour. It opened onto a narrow road lined with terraced muggle houses, but was at such an angle that the streetlights didn't expose them. The two witches were closest to the alley's opening, Hermione on the left watching the right of the street and Bellatrix on the right watching the left of the street. Yaxley and Dolohov lurked behind, almost completely hidden by the night's shadows.

Absent of Yaxley's creepy, patchy whistling the four stood in silence. Hermione was abnormally tense considering this was a basic ambush mission. Bellatrix glanced impassively at her lover every so often; perhaps she had noticed, too. However, whether she had or not, she didn't seem to see cause for concern and so the wizards behind followed her lead. Bellatrix was, after all, the only witch who knew Hermione well enough to accurately judge.

The older witch spoke for the first time since they had left Malfoy manor. "I see them." She hissed, looking meaningfully down to the end of the street which she could see.

Taking her eyes away from the unchanging scenery which sprawled over Bellatrix's shoulder, Hermione instead peered around the same wall she had her back pressed to, scanning Bellatrix's half of the street for the Order members they were meant to be accosting. She saw them, right at the end of the street walking hastily towards them. Bellatrix moved silently to the other wall, tucking in behind Hermione so as to take advantage of the blind corner when the figures got close enough. Antonin and Yaxley followed suit.

Hermione turned to them. "Let them pass by. There's two of them, four of us. Bella and I will incapacitate them- you two," She said, motioning to the two wizards, "Stay back and out of sight- if and _only_ if anything goes wrong or they wont go down quietly, you can step in and help, clear?"

Both wizards nodded agreement.

"Absolute silence." Hermione hissed quietly, her eyes threatening murder but never once landing on Bellatrix to indicate she was included in the threat. "Not a single peep from either of you. If that means you have to stop breathing, then so be it."

That earned a smirk from Bellatrix. Hermione was often harsh with both of the male death eaters, but in reality she didn't mind either of them- they certainly weren't the worst people she had to put up with, anyhow.

A few more seconds went by before the wind carried the voices to them. Hushed and quick, Hermione deduced two males and pulled her wand from her sleeve as they approached. The four stilled themselves completely and too caught up in the urgency of their conversation, the men passed their hiding spot completely oblivious. Hermione moved first, and Bellatrix followed her fluidly, emerging into the sickly orange light with their wands drawn. Yaxley and Dolohov obediently stayed put apart from moving to take the women's recently vacated spaces to keep an eye on the fight. It wasn't much of a fight. The Order members went down in an instant with two bright flashes and were quickly dragged back into the shadows and out of sight of any muggles who might be peeking around curtains.

Yet Hermione still looked tense.

"This one doesn't know anything." Bellatrix concluded, drawing sharply from the younger man's mind in annoyance. A simple flick of Hermione's wand and he slumped over, dead. His friend, twenty years his now dead partner's senior, recoiled in terror as he came back to his senses, trying to push himself backwards and away from the death eaters with the heels of his feet.

Hermione pushed her wand up her sleeve and crouched down in front of the man, who had started to hyperventilate quite unattractively. Much to her company's unease, she smiled at him.

"But you do." She said, almost cheerfully.

He spluttered and began stuttering denials, waving his hands manically as if trying to placate her. She held a hand up for silence and whilst looking down, gave a strange smile as if she were trying to think how to put something delicately. Bellatrix was now watching Hermione closely, which made the two remaining death eaters shift nervously. It was not unheard of for Hermione to flip out and hex everything that moved, friend or foe. Except Bellatrix- despite the amount of time the two witches spent together, the older witch had never found herself on the wrong end of the girl's wand. This was widely regarded as a good thing, since Bellatrix was the only one brave enough- or crazy enough, depending on who you asked- to restrain Hermione when she started to blow things up, or burn things down. Whoever you asked, they'd all agree that in the event of Bellatrix becoming so much as temporarily incapacitated, nobody would be safe in their beds.

"I'm only going to say this once." Hermione said steadily. "Where is Harry Potter?"

"I don't know, I swear I don't know! Please- please don't kill me, I- I have a family! A little girl! Please-"

Hermione's smile widened. "What's your girl's name?" She asked conversationally.

" _Christ.._ " Yaxley muttered under his breath.

"Her- her names Maria-"

"Oh, _Maria_ ," Hermione repeated, standing back up and pacing a few steps around. "That's a beautiful name- tell me," she said frowning a little, as if she'd heard something unusual. "Do you want little Maria to burn in her bed?"

The auror paled and sweat was starting to pour down his jaundiced, pallid face in rivulets. "No no, no- not my daughter, please! She's only seven!" He was breathless now.

Hermione tilted her head slightly, her dark eyes boring into their target and Bellatrix moved to stand closely behind her lover. "Then I'd comply."

Seeing both witches bearing down on him, the auror cracked. "He's, he's on the run, with Weasely, somewhere in Scotland," He pleaded desperately, "That's all we know- the Order can't pin them down they keep moving, I swear!"

Hermione considered him for a long while. Without taking her eyes from the auror before her, she reached her right arm over behind her right shoulder and with some strange accuracy drew Bellatrix's knife from the side of her cleavage. Antonin clicked his jaw shut loudly when Bellatrix caught him staring.

"And what are they doing in Scotland?" Hermione asked lowly.

The man stared at the knife in the witches hands and his adams apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard. "I don't know, they're running, they're wanted-"

Hermione didn't appreciate the lies. She started towards the man with the blade clutched tightly and Bellatrix allowed her to go- she could see what was going to happen and she might as well let Hermione get it out of her system.

The man pushed himself backwards a little further and ended up flat on his back when his palm slipped on the gravel. Hermione crouched down again beside the auror's chest and twirled the knife between her fingers. Yaxley grinned grimly at Dolohov waiting to see what was to come.

"What are they doing in Scotland?" They young witch shouted, making all but Bellatrix flinch.

The auror looked even more panic stricken than before. "I don't know, I-"

Hermione let out a yell of frustration and in a second, the knife was plunged into the aurors throat. He made a strangled, gurgling sound and his whole body jerked, spraying blood.

"Damn, girl." Antonin side stepped lithely before the blood covered his shoe.

Hermione yanked the knife out and stalked back to Bellatrix to return it to its owner.

"Thank you so much, my love." The older witch murmured with light sarcasm, taking the bloody dagger and swiping it through the air viciously to shake the majority of the blood from it.

"So, they're in Scotland." Yaxley surmised.

"They're hunting the Horcrux's. Legilimency comes in handy sometimes." Bellatrix said, storing her dagger in her sleeve and placing a firm hand on the small of Hermione's back as the brunette turned her attention back to the dead men in case she was planning on starting a fire.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Then we must gather them back before they can find them."

There was a general mutter of agreement.

"Let's get out of this stinking muggle alley." Yaxley suggested gruffly, looking up to the sky. "It's going to rain."

Hermione stepped back against Bellatrix and with a loud crack they disapperated together, whilst Yaxley and Antonin left separately, the Order members left to be found hours later.

Leaving the men to report back to their lord, Bellatrix took Hermione home. Black Manor was otherwise empty save for the house elves which was exactly how both women preferred it.

"Well. That was… interesting." Bellatrix said once the two witches arrived at the manor's huge front doors. "Any less worked up now?"

Hermione slipped past the older witch as she held the door open for her and into the main entrance of the house.

"I wasn't worked up." Hermione protested.

Bellatrix took her dagger back out from her sleeve as the started up the stairs side by side. "Look at the state of my knife." She said, accusingly but unable to keep the smirk from her lips. "It's covered in blood- you have a wand, you know."

Hermione shrugged. "Knives are more fun." She said defensively.

Bellatrix gave her a look as she opened the door to their room. "If I didn't think you were perfect I'd probably be concerned about you sometimes."

Hermione just looked disconcertingly pleased with herself.

Bellatrix sighed as she saw the clock. "That's two nights in a row we've seen three am." She said playfully.

Hermione smiled as she unbuttoned her blouse and threw it on the floor. She saw no point in doing the job that they already had elves for and besides, every atom of her shared four-poster bed was demanding her presence. She collapsed into it and contentedly watched Bellatrix finish undressing before she joined her partner, laying down beside her and wrapping an arm around her waist protectively.

Hermione might be a volatile murderer, but Bellatrix loved her.


	2. Chapter 2

Nagini was particularly fond of Hermione. Wound around her neck like a venomous scarf, the snake's slender head would poke out from beneath her hair and whisper to her all the names of those both in and out of the Dark Lord's favour as they took their places at the table.

According to the Parsletongue drifting her way now, it was Fenrir who was the current least favourite, which gave Hermione and elation usually reserved for watching young children fall down and hurt themselves.

Sat beside her, Bellatrix was looking sideways at Hermione through her long curls with something near alarm. Come to think of it, so was every one else at the table, if less obviously the the oldest Black sister.

 _It's almost like they think my smiling is worrying._ Hermione thought absentmindedly.

"How do you not fall over with that bloody great Python around your neck?"

Hermione looked at Antonin across the table, who was eying Nagini. She leaned across the dark wood in front of her as far as she could towards him and glanced each way down the table as if she was going to tell him a secret. "Because I'm sitting down." She whispered loudly. Bellatrix did her best to suppress her laugh.

Dolohov rolled his eyes. "Fine, 'how do you not fall off your seat with that bloody great Python around your neck?'" He amended.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe because she's not a Python."

Antonin made a face which let Hermione know his level of expertise ended at pointing and saying 'snake'. "What is she, then?"

"She's a Viper."

Some of the other death eaters were watching them converse cautiously. Antonin had earned quite a lot more respect among the death eater ranks because of his good terms with Hermione and some of the others seemed to find it fascinating to watch her talking, or in fact doing anything mundane when she was more lucid. It was like water off a duck's back to Hermione, but Bellatrix found it infuriating. She was virulently protective of the younger witch and as much as she liked to see Hermione's hexes strike people down like the viper around her neck, it made her feel… _irresponsible_ to let her curse too many people a day. She tried to limit it to about four but the current record was nineteen so upon reflection, that might not have been her most successful endeavour.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Narcissa arrived with Draco, strangely late considering it was their mansion they were all gathering in. She seated herself beside Bellatrix and Draco beside his mother. Ever since they'd come to stay at Black Manor last Christmas and he'd walked into the wrong room only to see Hermione coming out of her and Bella's en suit with just a short towel wrapped around her waist, Draco liked to keep his mother between himself and Hermione at all times. Not that she had attacked him, far from it. She had stood in the doorway and quite unnervingly politely asked him if she could help him, the ends of her damp hair barely covering her breasts.

Once Bellatrix got over the fact that Hermione hadn't tried to set him on fire, she almost crucified him herself. As far as Draco was concerned, one's wrath was just as bad as the other, and they hadn't seen much of him since.

Hermione nodded to her sister-in-law, whilst Draco pretended to find something very interesting about the floor.

"Ah, good…" The room was brought to a swift silence as the Dark Lord entered. "Everybody here?" He asked rhetorically.

He glided past Bella and Hermione and took his place at the head of the table. "It has become apparent," he began, his gaze sweeping over Yaxley and Dolohov, "That Potter is searching for the means of my downfall rather more accurately than we had anticipated. Bellatrix. You and Hermione shall travel now and collect an item waiting for you. If there is someone there waiting with it you will dispose of them."

Hermione looked brighter at the prospect of cold blooded murder.

"Now…" The Dark Lord's eyes wondered onto Fenrir but before he could speak a loud crack echoed from outside the room.

"What was that?" Hermione mused, not sounding like she genuinely cared.

Fenrir gave Hermione a caustic look. "Maybe it was the sound of a neck breaking." He snarled.

Hermione's eyes darkened and she glared back. "No Fenrir, that's a completely different sound, allow me to demonstrate."

Bellatrix rested her hand on Hermione's knee before she could stand and make good on her offer. The younger witch took a deep breath and feigned composure, smiling forcedly. "I didn't break his neck." she said through gritted teeth, "I collapsed his trachea. There's a world of difference."

Bellatrix remembered it well. They had been lying peacefully in bed, Hermione's head rested on Bella's chest, back in Lestrange manor and the older witch knew it was coming. Hermione had been staring at nothing for hours when suddenly she sat up, kissed Bellatrix's temple very softly and left the room in complete silence. Bellatrix knew where she was going and for what purpose and hadn't tried to stop her lover.

Ten minutes had drifted by and the door to their room re-opened. To this day Bellatrix couldn't understand how a person could get themselves so covered in blood without causing the slightest scream. She had never asked. Instead, she had risen from where she had been lying for the past several hours and followed Hermione into their bathroom, wordlessly undressed her whilst throwing her own night dress to the side, and then followed her into the shower. She had wrapped her arms around Hermione's middle and the younger witch had leaned back into her as the warm water slowly washed the blood from her skin and swirled it in pink ribbons down the drain.

"Tell that to Rod, you crazy bitc-"

Hermione's stunner hit him so hard the back of his chair exploded and he shot backwards into the wall. His head cracked against the marble decoration around the mantlepiece behind and he slumped either dead or unconscious- Hermione didn't care which- and to Bellatrix's satisfaction not a single person moved to check.

The Dark Lord looked at the werewolf impassively, but was nevertheless glad the interruption was over. "Thank you, Hermione. You may take your leave."

"I don't know why that cretin misses Rod so much. I was _married_ to him and the only thing I regret is that you got him before I did." Bellatrix thought aloud as she pulled her cloak around her shoulders.

Hermione gave Bellatrix a wry smile. "Really? You can't think of any reason at all?"

Bellatrix stopped fiddling with her cloak and frowned at Hermione. "What are you implying?"

Hermione just laughed and offered her arm to apperate.

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Nagini told me. Some place called Belial's Copse."

"Belial?"

Hermione smiled and pulled out her wand. "It's an old word for the devil." And with no further explanation, she apperated them out of the building.

"Charming place." Bellatrix commented, staring around at the rotted tree stumps and up at the half-burned exterior of the cabin they were faced with.

"Homely." Hermione agreed distractedly, staring around at where they'd landed and making a mental note of any places that could come in useful for cover if things got nasty.

"There are blood stains."

Hermione's eyes languidly floated back to Bellatrix. "Blood stains can be homely. Remember Belarus?"

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows and followed the younger witch up the path to the cabin. "I most certainly do remember Belarus."

Hermione knocked politely on the cabin door. "We should go back there some time."

Bellatrix held a hand up. "Uh, _no_ , we will _never_ be going back there."

"I didn't know she was the bride." Hermione muttered.

Before Bellatrix could question her as to her excuse for the rest of the wedding's attendee's, the cabin door opened a crack. An aged eye regarded them for a moment before the door swung the rest of the way open, shrieking as it did so. An old man in muggle clothes was standing hunched in the half light. "Death eaters _knocking_ , whatever next?"

Hermione's smile was a clear threat. "I'm not a death eater."

It was true, Hermione had never taken the mark- she had argued that if she took the mark then she could always be accused of staying with Voldemort because she was branded. However, if she didn't take the mark, it displayed the utmost level of mutual trust which according to Hermione, was far preferable to being branded like cattle. The Dark Lord had agreed, half because he couldn't afford not to considering by that point if Hermione had left Bellatrix would've too, and half because in actual fact, he couldn't find any flaws in the logic. He was a reasonable man.

"But my wife is."

Bellatrix's dark eyes stared at him, watching as his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "I remember Ms Black very well." He said listlessly. "She killed all five of my sons. At the same time." He added when the older which showed no signs of recognition.

Bellatrix shrugged. "I don't remember, but I believe it happened."

Bored of waiting for the old man, Hermione strode across the single room and yanked open the only draw from the only piece of furniture there was. She was successful, pulling out a small package wrapped in pale blue cloth.

"Well thank you," Hermione concluded, rejoining Bellatrix by the door.

"You be _careful_ with that." The old man hissed, stepping towards Hermione purposefully.

Bellatrix moved immediately to stand behind the younger witch, wrapping one arm around her middle, the blackness in her eyes almost enough to powder the old man where he stood. Bellatrix was yet to challenge the label 'possessive'. Naturally, Hermione enjoyed it greatly.

The old man took a few unsure steps backwards as he remembered who he was dealing with.

"Give my regards to your sons." Hermione said cordially. She didn't even wait for the confusion to properly form on his brow before she killed him.

"Not wasting time today." Bellatrix remarked.

"Should have let you do that, you could have had the whole set." Hermione said impishly.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "I'll get over it."

They were halfway out of the door when Hermione stopped and turned around and Bellatrix should have known.

"Is it really necessary? Its half burned down as it is." Bellatrix complained. Hermione was already on strike two and burning half the woods down _might_ have to count as another two strikes instead of just one. Hermione would have had her four 'maim-assault-or-blow-up' allowance for the day and it wasn't even eleven o clock.

Hermione turned on the spot back to look at the older witch and upon seeing the stern look on her face slipped her arms under black curls and kissed her temple. "Please?"

"Hermione-" Bellatrix started to reason with her.

The younger witch wasn't going to bother to say please again, but still successfully interrupted the defence with another kiss. Bellatrix regarded the woman in her arms. "You can't just win arguments by kissing me."

Hermione wasn't going to listen. She kissed the death eater once more on the very corner of her mouth. Bellatrix's lips twisted as if she was trying to keep herself from conceding. Hermione's dark eyes had just as much fire in them as her wand did and Bellatrix caved. "Fine." She sighed. Hermione smiled against her lips as she kissed her one last time and then the building went up in flames and Bellatrix wasn't even sure Hermione had said the incantation. That was worrying. Sometimes the incantations were the only warning Bellatrix got when Hermione snapped at someone. She would have to be vigilant for that.

 _Damn it._

Hermione's smile seemed… off to Bellatrix. She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

The brunette smiled and took her arm. "Nothing."

"Why do you look so-"

"Amazing?"

"Hermione-" Bellatrix was cut off yet again as Hermione crashed her lips against her partners.

"Don't be mad at me." She murmured against her ear when she broke away, and Bellatrix felt her wand being pulled in one swift sharp movement from her sleeve. Hermione apperated, pulling Bellatrix with her, and Bellatrix never had time to work out what the hell had just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

They landed in what was unmistakably someones garden. Bellatrix didn't ask why- despite Hermione having taken her wand she still trusted her implicitly.

"Where are we?"

Hermione didn't answer. She looked like she was gauging how much trouble she was potentially in and Bellatrix moved herself to stand in front of the younger witch, frowning suspiciously.

Hermione's eyes flitted up to Bellatrix's and back to the short grass beneath their feet. There were six or seven skinny trees around the two women in a tight cluster and the death eater leaned against one waiting for Hermione to explain what was happening in her mind.

Hermione looked astronomically guilty, fiddling with Bellatrix's confiscated wand. "Do you trust me?"

Bellatrix smirked. "I married you, didn't I? Come on, where are we?"

"Your sisters house." Hermione winced as she said it.

Bellatrix groaned. "Hermione we talked about this, The Dark Lord will _flay_ me-"

Hermione's eyes glinted dangerously and for a moment Bellatrix wondered if she would flip out just at the hypothetical _suggestion_ of harm coming to her partner. "What the dark lord doesn't know can't slit his throat."

Bellatrix opened her mouth to reply as she heard the same old phrase but clicked it shut with vague alarm as Hermione finished it off.

"We need to talk to her."

"What on earth for?"

"Because. This," Hermione said poignantly, holding up the small blue wrap of cloth, "Is not being wasted on whatever he-who-must-not-be-maimed wants it for."

" _Hermione_ -"

"Yes, yes, I know, don't talk about maiming him. We need your sister."

Bellatrix was struggling to keep up. Hermione seemed like an open book to most, but it wasn't until closer inspection you realised it was written in a different language. "What- Can we start from the beginning? What's in the cloth?"

Hermione's smile looked a little manic. "It's a corruption stone." She said, sounding as if she was going to swoon. "Anyone who holds it on them for too long… well, it poisons the mind. Thoroughly. A multitude of glorious side effects, including memory loss, psychosis, irrationality, paranoia, and a healthy dose of unpredictability. Clever though, because the paranoia stops the holder from saying what they're experiencing, so to everyone else they just appear to be becoming a violent, lying arse."

The older witch nodded. "Right. So, Andromeda comes into this how?"

"I want to give it to Harry."

"Sorry?"

Hermione waved the cloth in front of Bellatrix again. "The stone. I want to give it to Harry. Only I can't do it myself. But your niece might."

"How do you know that's not what the dark lord was going to do with it anyway."

"He wouldn't give this to Harry."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me, he wouldn't give this to Harry."

Bellatrix screwed her eyes closed. "Okay could you just explain it all in one go, I think I'm developing a headache."

Hermione sighed. "We were sent to get the stone. The dark lord wants it for something, don't know what or who but they're pretty rare so it would kill me to see it wasted. I burned the cabin down and as far as he will ever know, it was like that when we arrived, no stone to be found. I wan't to give the stone to Harry as a little gift. But for it to work he's going to need to keep it on him 24/7. So, if we talk to Andromeda, explain what happened when you first found me, maybe she'll sympathise. _Maybe_ getting her long lost sister back will make her more agreeable. Then Andromeda can tell Nymphadora to give Harry the stone, say it's something else- something Dumbledore left him, that would be good- and he'll carry it around and job done."

Bellatrix suddenly understood. "Is that why you took my wand? In case I went for Andy?"

"Well, yes."

"Fair enough. The dark lord will check our memories you know, he'll know we took it."

"Please. You're perfectly strong enough to keep him out and so am I."

Bellatrix felt like this was a bad idea. It had been a long while since she had seen her sister, and she wasn't sure how she would react. "And if Andy refuses?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Bellatrix _really_ felt like this was a bad idea. "Why are you so sure the dark lord wasn't going to use the stone on Harry himself?"

Hermione regained the dark look about her that usually lingered around her features when she was deep in thought. "Because they're hunting horcrux's. Come on, Bella, you know what a horcrux is. Doesn't something suddenly make sense?"

Bellatrix thought about it, but shook her head as nothing came to mind.

"Not how little Harry survived that night?"

Bellatrix frowned. "Are you suggesting _Potter_ is a Horcrux?"

"I think so. And if he is, that's why his mind is so closely linked with the dark lord's. The stone is made of black magic- literally, it is concentrated, magic of such power its solidified into an actual stone, it'll probably have just as many negative effects on the dark lord as it will Harry."

"So you're plotting to take the dark lord down." Bellatrix's mind was racing trying to think of a way to talk her out of this.

"No. I'm plotting to take Harry down. The dark lord is just collateral damage."

"Hermione, you can't be serious, you'll get us killed." Bellatrix could hear her own desperation, and she only hoped that Hermione could, too.

"I want revenge, Bella. If that means the dark lord goes a little further off the deep end then so be it. You'd do much better in his place, anyway."

Bellatrix just stared at her open-mouthed. She wasn't sure she had it in her to stop Hermione doing this, god knows those prats deserved everything they got, but at such a cost? Such a risk?

"He might _not_ be affected. May just be we tell one small lie and only Harry goes mental."

That was true. Bellatrix gave Hermione one last pleading look. "There are other, less suicidal ways."

Hermione held her gaze and Bellatrix caved. Again. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. I'm doing this as a show of loyalty, not reason, just remember that when we're both crucified."

"Seems like a sad thing to be remembering whilst being crucified."

"Alright then, I love you, remember that, instead."

Hermione smiled. "You make it sound as if I'd forget."

Bellatrix touched the small of Hermione's back. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Andromeda nearly dropped with shock when she opened the door.

"Bella?"

"Hello little sister. We have some stories to tell you, and then some favours to ask. Please let us in before someone sees us."

Andromeda had stared at them both in turn, pale and unsure, before finally stepping aside to let them in. Even when the door was shut behind them, she didn't seem to know what to say.

Luckily for her, Hermione and Bellatrix had between them, more than enough to say to fill the gaps.

 ** _[Bella's POV ]_**

[several months before]

It had been Antonin who had carried her broken body across the thresh-hold to Malfoy Manor, before anyone knew what had happened or what she would say when or if she ever woke up. She had been the enemy, really, and Bellatrix knew she had walked a fine line on being reasonable and being a traitor that night when she had asked her sister not to call him.

She had her reasons of course- it was the early hours of the morning, The Dark lord was looking for the elder wand, had told them not to call him unless it directly related to Potter in an exceptionally urgent manor.

Antonin had put her down on Bellatrix's bed and then left quickly, not really knowing what else he was supposed to do. Bellatrix barely recognised the girl- _not so much of a girl any more, though_ \- Hermione had grown into a young woman since Bellatrix had last set eyes on her. It felt like a long time ago now.

"She's one of the three, Bella, how does this _not_ directly relate to Potter?"

"Every bone in her body is broken, Cissy, please, she might not even live. Just leave it until we know."

"Know what?"

Bellatrix softly lifted the sheet back that covered Hermione's middle and Narcissa had to look away. Not because she sympathised, Narcissa didn't really sympathise with anyone. Maybe it was because she had Draco, maybe this sickness she felt now was a ghost of how she would have felt if it was him lying there, every rib broken, his back, his arms, legs, wrists, ankles, collarbone, every inch of his skin littered in cuts and dark purple bruises bigger than her fist. No one knew who, but Hermione was _someone's_ daughter, after all. Or maybe it was just the look on her sister's face. "She didn't do this to herself. It wasn't one of ours- the dark lord would have set them up for _life_ if they had brought him this sort of trophy, no death eater would have just left her out there to die."

"So someone else beat her up. What's your point?"

Bellatrix hadn't answered for a long while, covering Hermione back over and gazing at her. She was barely alive, clinging on like the last seed of a dandelion clock in the breeze. "All of her fingers are broken. This wasn't a beating, Cissy. I happen to be quite acquainted with torture, I can tell the difference."

Suddenly Narcissa understood why Bellatrix didn't want to call the dark lord yet. "You think the Order did this?"

"Maybe. It wasn't us. Maybe they caught her and for some reason turned on her, did this for information on Potter then left her somewhere to die where the blame could never come back to them. Maybe she'll be sympathetic to us for helping her, we could use a mind like hers."

"He'll kill her."

"Yes. If we call him straight away."

Narcissa was beaten, she could see Bellatrix wasn't going to give up. She sighed. "Do you need help?"

Bellatrix relaxed slightly at her sister's relent. "No, I'll be fine. I'll call Meela if I need anything."

Narcissa looked at Hermione one last time before she left the room. Bellatrix watched her go. She wasn't bothered by her sister's cold attitude, she knew she was only worried Bellatrix would get herself hurt for caring for the girl without asking.

She set her mind to healing. Stabilising. Cleaning the blood. Slowly bringing Hermione back from the edge. It was hard going. Whoever had done this had riddled her blood with resistant magic, a last measure to ensure she'd die. But it wasn't enough to hold Bellatrix's own magic down and after over five hours of spells and counter spells the sun began to light up the bedroom room and Hermione was for the most part, safe. Her heart rate was wasn't as high as it should have been but it was steady and strong, and her blood was replenished. Her skin was clear of bruising, the various stab wounds were healed and her bones were mended. She was still going to be in a lot of pain and she was still unconscious but Bellatrix had reached the end of things she could do to help. There had been over two hundred injuries that the death eater had counted, twenty-three of them broken bones and now she was exhausted, collapsing on the chiase lounge under the window and falling into a troubled sleep.

When she woke there were eyes on her. Hermione hadn't moved apart from to tilt her head sideways to watch Bellatrix. Not out of fear though.

"Good morning." Bellatrix said cautiously. She wasn't sure how the girl would react to seeing her, half-dead or otherwise.

Hermione stayed silent for a long while before she spoke. "Are we friends or really not friends, I can't remember. It's one or the other." She sounded weak, exhausted and defeated, and Bellatrix got the impression Hermione didn't care much either way.

Bellatrix stared at the girl. Had she been hit so hard she'd lost her memory? There hadn't been many wounds to the head.

"Well that's a good question. As in, its up for potential… change."

Hermione just creased her brow and shifted slightly. "Ow." she mumbled to herself.

"What happened? How did you get into that… state." Bellatrix couldn't help herself, she was paranoid that the dark lord would walk in any minute and that she would never find out.

"I don't want to talk about it." Hermione's voice betrayed no emotions, and neither did her face. She had the foreign yet overwhelming urge to set something on fire.

"Was in the Order?" She just had to know that, just that _one_ detail. Hermione's life was probably riding on it.

Hermione made a small noise that sounded like the beginnings of a laugh, but had turned into a soft exhalation. "You're on the other side of the war, then, the way you say _the Order_. That means we're not friends. Are you Bellatrix or Fleur?"

"Bellatrix." Bellatrix said indignantly.

"Bellatrix…" Hermione murmured to herself. "I know the name… just… not any of the backstory."

"This might sound arrogant, but how hard did you have to hit your head to forget _that_?"

"I didn't hit my head."

"Well what happened then?"

Hermione sighed, shifted uncomfortably as if she were lying on nails and closed her eyes. Maybe telling all that had happened would help her mind unscramble itself.

 ** _[Hermione's PoV]_**

[The morning before]

Hermione leaned against the tree with the least amount of clothes-staining moss growing on it and wondered whether or not Harry and Ron were looking for her.

It was the end of her third day of living in the forest after she'd run from the mess she'd made and so far, there had been no sign of anyone coming to find her. It was a relief and it was a terrible anxiety. She wanted her friends to find her and tell her it was okay and that they weren't going to hate her- but given the state she'd left Ron in, she felt that outcome was unlikely. That being the truth of it, she supposed their absence was a good thing. Still. She missed them.

Hermione hugged her arms around her body as the sun dipped below the horizon. Just as the evening before, there were no clouds overhead to hold the day's warmth down and the temperature, Hermione knew, would begin to drop fast now. September wasn't honestly the month that she would have picked to live outdoors in. She sighed. At this rate, the cold was going to get her before the snatchers. The young witch didn't trust herself to cast a heat spell.

It felt as though the fine grains of coloured sand which had been arranged so carefully in delicate lines and swirls over the last years to make the picture of her reality had had some great pair of hands clap above it, and with the rush of air all the tiny grains had jumped up and then resettled.

At first, the sand had also lost it's colour in the confusion, and lay in her mind as one mass of grey. That's when she had hurt Ron. Then she had run blindly into the forest in panic, and had since spent her time trying to sort the grains of sand back into their perfect lines. The sand may have it's colour back now, but Hermione had lost her trust in it. The word she had found _seemed_ to be the right one for a warmth charm, but doubt like Hermione had never known before had crept in and seeded itself in every corner of her mind, preventing her from casting it for fear it was actually something very different and that she'd do to herself what she had done to Ron.

Obliviate, it seemed, was a nasty one even when it hit you as a fractured, corrupted rebound.

That was the one spell Hermione really knew and trusted. She had tried to obliviate a snatcher but he had seen it coming, and had sent it back at her before she could protect herself. Not too late for Harry and Ron to knock him out, but still, too late. It hadn't been the same, pure spell when it had hit her as when she had cast it. All Hermione knew was that she was under threat. She couldn't make sense of who were her friends and who were the enemies, nor could she remember why they were fighting, who she was, where she was or why she was where she was. Just that she was under very heavy threat.

That being the only thing her brain could manage, she had lashed out. It didn't register that the fight was over, that the snatchers were no longer conscious, or that Harry and Ron were not attacking her in any way. The sleeping snatchers were hexed to death in an instantaneous hurricane of flashes. And that was when Ron had tried to intervene. He had come towards her shouting, wondering what the hell she was doing, but all the empty Hermione could see was more threat.

She couldn't even remember what spells she had hit him with. Sectumsempra had been one, she was fairly sure, but there had been at least two others. A stunner perhaps. A body bind.

And then she had fled. Whilst Harry had gone for Ron she had made her escape into the trees. She'd collapsed, eventually, on the ground, her head spinning and she'd stayed there all night as the fragments all pieced themselves back together.

Now it had been three days, and Hermione was too afraid to go back, too afraid to go on alone. She was stuck.

Clinging to the little heat she had left, Hermione lay her head down on her knees and hoped that there were no wolves in this part of England. She could hear something moving about nearby, but she had gotten used to that- she wasn't the only thing living here and she had grown tired of jumping up at every slight sound only to find herself pointing her wand at a startled rabbit.

" _THERE!"_

Hermione flew to her feet so fast she tripped on the root of the tree she had been leaning against and fell hard onto her back. The wind left her lungs and she saw stars for a second, before they were blotted out entirely by what seemed to be someone from… the Order?

"Got you now, bitch." He muttered smugly, casting a full body bind on her and hauling her up to apparate.

 **A/N: Okay so don't be annoyed at me for leaving it off here. I wanted to do some explaining of how Hermione came to be where she be's. I promise to explain some more next chapter. But you'll all have to wait :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so this is the last bit of the details on how Hermione ended up where she has and fair warning to you all, it's not very pleasant.**

 **Sorry I took so long.**

 **You know I love you really.**

 **[Hermione's PoV]**

When Hermione had woken up, the room she was sitting in had almost made her wish she hadn't. It was cold. The floor and all four walls were covered in uniform white tiles, or at least they had been; now, they were cracked and grey, a thin layer of grey-green grime covered everything and discs of black mould were budding in the grouting.

The only features of the room was the door- also a grimy, dull white- and the drain, which was really just a hole in the floor in the centre of the room with a heavy, square, rusting iron grate set over the top of it.

Hermione wasn't sure where she was. She certainly had never been here before and there were no identifying marks to help her guess. Her head throbbed and she felt thankful that the only real light was a UVB strip light above, which was so old that it had dimmed and now flickered and with an electric hum.

With an unpleasant flutter across her stomach, Hermione realised that her wrists were bound behind her back. She struggled weakly to free them, but whatever spell was holding them was far too strong. Her wand was gone from her sleeve.

Distantly, she could hear voices. Her ears were ringing, and she felt like she was wading through the heavy silence, straining to hear them better. Without any warning, the door to her right swung open, causing the young witch to jump and almost fall sideways when her arms were unable to stop her, and a man strode into the dingy room.

"Number 17." He said, conversationally. He was short, with greying hair and sunken brown eyes.

Hermione wasn't sure if he was referring to her or not. Was she a prisoner? Was this Azkaban? The idea sent sickly little chills through her.

"Not feeling very talkative?" He smiled horribly. "Well I 'ope for your own sake that that changes sooner, rather than later."

He sounded like Filch, Hermione decided. Uncannily like Filch. She was too afraid to open her mouth and speak.

"Tut-tut. And I was 'ere thinking you was the bright one." He drew his wand. "Now, let's make this easy. Who gave you the orders?"

Hermione's mind scrambled. She didn't know what he was talking about. It occurred to her that under the circumstances, that was going to seem very convenient indeed.

"I- I don't know what you mean." She stuttered truthfully.

The man didn't seem impressed, pulling a face. "If I'd had a sickle for every time I'd heard that."

Hermione's heart was racing as she looked around the room for a way out. Her limbs were heavy and the ministry worker was between her and the only door. Her chances were sub-zero.

"Who gave the orders to attack Potter?" The man tried again, sounding as if her were dealing with a very stubborn, petulant child.

Hermione's eyes were wide. "I don't know what you mean, I really don't know-"

She stopped short of her hopeless persuasions as the mans wand was shoved in her direction. He wasn't even looking at her, acting like he was supremely bored and just going through the motions.

"One last time. Who. Gave. The. Orders?"

The pressure was starting to overwhelm Hermione and tears pricked in the corners of her eyes.

"I don't understand, I had no orders." She persisted desperately.

With a grunt of frustration, the man suddenly left the room. Hermione was shaking, and the headache that had been so mild just a minute ago was now blinding.

She still couldn't remember anything- she couldn't even remember what day it was without so much second-guessing that she felt sick. Were they going to torture her? She _did_ remember she was wanted by the new ministry, along with Harry and Ron, but not by the Order. A thought struck her- had Harry and Ron communicated to the Order what had happened? Did they consider her a traitor now?

Footsteps gave away the approach of another person, and just a minute later, the door swung back open.

"17." This man was much less amiable. "This is your last chance to tell us who gave you what orders by free will."

Hermione was struggling to breathe. "I had no orders, I lost my memory."

He threw his head back and laughed. He had a shaven head and dark blue eyes that had a permanent glint of malice. "Manghan said you were a cliche. Fine. Your way it is."

His wand flashed and Hermione's head hit back against the hard wall as she screamed in pain. Her muscles struggled against her magical bindings as all of her nerves were burned at once. By the time it stopped, tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Tell me!" The man demanded angrily.

Hermione opened her mouth but no sound came out, her mind still in shock from Crucio's lash. Before she had time to try again, the pain started back up and this time she fell onto her side, curling up in a tight ball as well as she could with her arms restrained. Her screams echoed nastily off the bare interior. She couldn't think. She couldn't believe the Order, if that was who these men were, was using unforgivable's.

"We can do this all day." He shouted over the top of her, his tone a warning.

The spell relented. Hermione gasped for breath, crying with her temple pressed to the dirty floor.

"I had no orders, I had no orders." She repeated over and over, wishing she was back in the forest with the moss and the rabbits.

He wasn't going to hear it. He hauled her to her feet and pressed the tip of his wand uncomfortably into the underside of her chin.

"You've been with him for months, don't lie!" He sheathed his wand into his sleeve. "More than one way to skin a cat. That's the muggle saying, isn't it?"

With blind panic, Hermione tried to wriggle away from her attacker as the knife blade came into view in her peripherals.

"Maybe we'll try that instead."

He let go of her and Hermione fell back to the floor, landing awkwardly. She heard a crack and felt a wave of sickness. She'd broken a rib.

A quick movement of the ministry worker's arm, and Hermione screamed in pain again, not because of a spell but because the the short sharp blade had been slashed across her shoulder in a brutal motion. Blood ran down her arm in a thin sheet and onto the tiles under her. When it reached the ground, however, it didn't pool, but instead mazed its way along the grouting until in a thin line it reached the iron grate, dripping languidly down into the darkness of the hole below. Hermione realised that there was a slight slope to the floor. It dawned on her at the same time that it was designed to make the room easy to wash down- to wash blood from the tiles? She thought she might pass out.

"Under who do you work for?" The voice was deafening.

All Hermione could do was cry. The knife went down again and earned another shriek of pain as the pale blue denim of her jeans turned purple with more blood.

"Tell me!" A boot connected with her ribs and she was sure more had broken under the force. The boot hit her again, in her stomach, and then Crucio took away her consciousness.

 **/**

The second time Hermione awoke in the room was even less pleasant than the first. Her leg and her shoulder were screaming with pain and the whole left side of her torso punished her for even the smallest of movements. Her head was still throbbing. The man had left the room. Where her blood had run from her, the tiles were stained pink, and by the grate which was slightly raised, what was left had formed a dark, thin, square around the concrete structure.

The young witch lay on her side and prayed she'd get out of this situation alive. It felt unlikely. Was this how it was going to end? Would she never find out who her parents were? How the war would end? She didn't have the energy to think to hard about it all. She lay for about five minutes, crying pitifully.

A noise made her stomach turn… footsteps. She couldn't even curl up to protect herself. Maybe if she pretended to still be unconscious they'd go away again. Too late.

"Ah, you're awake."

Hermione whimpered fearfully.

"Has you're memory jogged yet?"

The younger witch shook her head weakly, partly in suicidal defiance, party because it actually hadn't. She didn't get a warning this time, and it seemed he was done with asking her questions. He kicked her at least three times in the ribs in quick succession- it might have been more but Hermione could no longer keep track through the pain- and once in the collarbone. The crack it made as it broke was louder that Hermione would have imagined, but was still drowned out by her own shrieks of agony. The knife made another appearance- tiny slashes all over her body, enough to distract her so that she didn't notice the other man enter the room. It was the man she'd first seen, Manghan. He had his wand ready, and the first Hermione knew of him was when the hilt of it was brought down hard on her fingers. Her arm felt like it was being shredded.

"Who gave you the orders?" Manghan bellowed, bringing the hilt of his wand down onto her fingers again. She screamed she didn't know, pleading for them to stop.

Crucio hit her with such force she rolled facedown onto her front. A heavy boot aimed for her ribs again instead hit her back and the fingers that still had movement curled against the tile. Her throat was raw. Something came down and smashed against her ankle so hard she was sure it must have powdered and her consciousness left her for a second time.

 **/**

The third time she awoke, the panic was immediate. Mainly because the two men were still there this time. She must have either regained consciousness much faster than before, or they must have just kept up their assault on her through the time she was asleep, because now there was blood running from her forehead and her legs had gone frighteningly numb. Her arm also lay at a strange angle- she knew it was broken. Her whole body was engulfed in pain, including her mind. She couldn't move her fingers. The only thing left that worked completely were her eyelids. She blinked. The men were talking and she struggled to make out the words.

"She's not going to rat on them, whether it was You-Know-Who or not."

"So what now?"

"Kill 'er I suppose, leave her somewhere she won't be found. 'Least, if she is, where no one will look to us."

"Why'd she even attack 'em in the first place?"

"Who knows, who cares. The Order wants Potter safe and she's obviously got a few screws loose and obviously aligned herself with the other side. Let's just kill the mental bitch and go home."

Hermione almost wished they'd hurry up and finish the job. Death couldn't be as bad as this.

A knife plunged into her abdomen twice and at the same time, a few spells hit her, although their effects weren't obvious. Hermione just moaned weakly. She couldn't scream any more.

She was hoisted up onto someone shoulder, her broken bones shrieking, and to top it off, the nauseating feeling of apparating wrung her brain.

 **/**

The air was cold where they landed. The distinct smell of rain and tarmac. The Muggle world. She could hear traffic in the distance. It was dark. She was thrown to the floor and her back made further crunching sounds. The grass was soft and she cracked her eyes open to watch the two Order men apparate away. They left, and Hermione wondered how long it would take her to die. Blood was still running from the two new stab wounds, though she could feel her legs again, dimly.

She lay for nearly an hour before her vision dimmed and she was sure this time, she was dead.

 **/**

She was being carried. She wasn't in as much pain anymore. Perhaps an amateur pain relief spell. There was a rapid crunching of wet gravel underfoot that let her know whoever was carrying her was walking fast. Her vision faded again. After that she remembered opening her eyes for just a second, feeling herself being lowered onto a very soft surface. There were low voices. It was warm. Maybe she was safe now. Or maybe this was the afterlife. Did you get carried to heaven? Mrs Malfoy's face came into view for a split second.

 _Was I so bad I went to hell?_


	5. Chapter 5

Andromeda looked worse when the two witches stopped talking than when they had started talking. She didn't seem to know what to say. Hermione looked nonplussed by it all which worried Bellatrix some since the subject used to be the _only_ thing that got to her. If this didn't upset her anymore, then nothing did, and that felt like it should ring alarm bells. She made a note to pull her aside later, if their lord didn't kill them first, and ask her about it as carefully as she could.

"I'm so sorry." Andromeda managed finally.

Hermione's face didn't change.

Definitely worrying.

"So… You attacked Ron, ran away, got captured by the order and they tortured you? Why?"

"Like I said. Potter had contacted them days before under the impression I was a sleeper agent of some sort. The Order sent out people to look for me before I could either get to our Lord, as they then wrongly guessed was where my loyalties lay, or return to Harry and Ron and finish what they assumed I had started. They tortured me to know if it really was the case that I had gone over to the other side of the war, though I think they had already decided that that was the case going by my treatment. Then they found I wasn't going to tell them what they wanted to hear and so they left me somewhere to die so the whole thing could be forgotten about."

Andromeda really did look mortified and Bellatrix had placed a firm hand on the small of Hermione's back, for her own comfort more than the brunette's.

"I can't believe the Order would do such a thing. There's only one detail I don't fully understand- you said that before the order found you in the woods your memory was slowly coming back together, but when you awoke you couldn't even decide who my sister was."

Hermione could see from the witch's face that the word 'sister' had caused an unsettled feeling to run through the younger Black sister.

"We believe that the extensive healing magic in conjunction with the trauma both mental and physical may have affected her mind's recovery rate." Bellatrix explained, looking at her sister as if she was was implying she meant much more than just Hermione's memory.

Hermione had become, after all, a very different person after Bellatrix had found her and she knew her younger sister had noticed the changes in personality and temperament. She was a far cry from the innocent and gentle person Bellatrix had once tortured for information herself. The memory made her heart feel like it was being compressed.

"So… what changed? Why are you telling me this?"

Bellatrix held her breath.

"Myself and Bella went on a raid not long ago, the details of which I'm afraid given your connections to the Order, I must spare you. We found something we believe was intended to be given to Harry by Dumbledore- though we cannot imagine how it came to rest in the place which it was found, I felt it… necessary that it was returned to Harry. There was a note found along with it, but unknowing of what it was I opened it and once read it burned itself." Hermione's face gave away no hint of the lie.

"What did the note read?" Andromeda was suspicious of foul play the second her sister had come into the situation, but looking at the two witches that sat perfectly calmly in her sitting room she couldn't help but notice how different Bella was to how she remembered. She seemed more tempered, in control. The fact Hermione had even persuaded her to come here- as Andromeda assumed she must have- was a sigh of both her improvement, and Hermione's genuine intent. Perhaps that's what her sister had needed all those years, the loneliness made her erratic, unstable and Hermione countered that. Even Andromeda had heard the news of their marriage.

"To Harry, keep it close always, our deepest love, mum and dad."

Bellatrix wasn't that surprised by the low blow from her wife.

Hermione continued seamlessly. "Whilst we do not understand what the object is or what its intended use is, the fact the letter instructing Harry to always keep it on his person burned itself suggested that it was not something that should be flaunted."

Hermione produced the blue cloth with the dark stone inside of it and proffered it to Andromeda.

"Though my place in this war is right where I am now, beside Bella, Harry and Ron were my friends for a lot of years, and I never said goodbye. That being said, they would no longer trust this if they knew it was coming from me, and I fear that if Harry shows whatever this is to anyone else, it shall be taken from him permanently, along with its uses. I ask that given the circumstances, you attempt to get this to Harry, wherever he may be right now, so that the matter is no longer on my mind."

Andromeda took the blue parcel and shifter aside the folds of silky material to look at the stone. Her older sister monitored her face but could sense no recognition coming over the younger Black, no sudden shift in demeanour that indicated she knew what the object was.

Andromeda thought hard about whether this was a good idea or not. She knew her daughter would be able to get to Harry if she really wished, but a gift from two of the most infamous death eaters of their time? She sighed heavily. Bella was still her sister, and Hermione had never taken the mark.

"Alright. I'll give it to Dora to give to Harry."

"Thank you." Hermione said graciously. "Tell Harry…" She trailed off and Bellatrix noticed with quickly suppressed surprise that her wife was actually forcing real tears. "Sorry," The younger witch apologised, shifting closer to Bella who instinctively pressed a firm hand to the small of her partners back. "Tell Harry, there's spells out there that can be used to create secret pockets in his clothes if he needs to."

Andromeda looked sympathetic. "Of course. I'll not let on to anyone in the order that he has his mother and father's gift, and I'll advise him, through Nymph, to do the same. You took a great risk coming here."

Bellatrix looked at her sister almost kindly. It wasn't her fault, the death eater supposed, that she was so easily manipulated. Andromeda had always been too trusting for her own good.

"And on that note, we must go. There will be questions as to where we got to if we stay much longer. Thank you for your understanding, Mrs Tonks."

Bellatrix cringed inwardly at the name, but tried not to let it show in her face. Andromeda noticed anyway.

"And thank you, Madame Black… Bella… for your explanations. It's given me much to think about."

Hermione nodded cordially and rose from her seat, Bellatrix close behind. Hermione could see Andromeda sadden as she realised her sister was about to leave her once more, probably indefinitely.

"Good luck." Was the only thing she could think to wish them, and with her words, Hermione apperated herself and her wife away.

Bellatrix watched her lover closely, not entirely convinced that the younger woman was feeling as settled on the inside as she was appearing to be on the outside as they approached her sister's home.

"Well, no going back now, my love. Nice touch with dead parents reference."

Hermione gave the dark-haired woman a dazzling smile. "It worked, did it not?"

"Apparently so. Now, off to our deaths," Bellatrix offered her wife her arm and prepared for a shit storm. "Shall we?"

Hermione happily accompanied the death eater into Malfoy Manor and the Dark Lord's presence.

He did not show any sign of emotion either way as Hermione levelly lied to him. Bellatrix was completely confident of her wife's abilities to keep him out of her mind, as was she of her own abilities to do likewise, however it was a show of expertise to keep the concern from her eyes about what they had just done. Concern, and also a little bit of child-like glee at causing trouble.

"There was no sign of what had caused the blaze?" The Dark Lord asked, still not seeming to disbelieve them.

"It didn't seem to be a magical fire, it smelled of muggle fuel."

Bellatrix hoped Hermione was going somewhere with this, because at the mention of muggle means, she was now suddenly and wholly out of her depth.

"Muggle? The item… It was to be provided by a muggle man who had been collecting magical curios since he married into this world."

Hermione feigned surprised interest. "You believe he sabotaged?"

Something dark inside Bellatrix chuckled; Hermione was the mistress of manipulation.

"It would appear so. I believe fire would have destroyed the item also- the muggle will pay a grave price."

"He's dead, my lord. A body was in the remains of the cabin." Bellatrix interjected, not wanting to look absent from the discussion.

The dark lord laughed a high, raspy laugh."Coward. He did not dare face me."

"Not in this life, my lord." Hermione confirmed.

And with that, he dismissed them.

Bellatrix, quite desperate to put as much distance between them and their lord as possible, pulled Hermione into her side and took them back to Black Manor the second the door to the meeting room closed behind them without saying goodbye to her sister. She couldn't face her so soon after Andromeda.

"That went too well. _Far_ too well." Worry lined Bellatrix's features like moonlight lined rainclouds.

"He didn't suspect a thing..." Hermione reassured.

Hermione pushed her wife by the hips to sit on the edge of their bed and began to gather up her hair, not at all mindful of Bellatrix's face being lost to her cleavage. The death eater sighed and rested her temple against Hermione's heart as the younger woman's arms worked to pull all of the dark curls together, not caring what she was doing. Once she had gotten them together, she deftly pinned them in a messy yet fittingly elegant stack on top of Bellatrix's head, stepping back a little to admire her handiwork.

"You should wear your hair up more often." She declared, running her finger tips down her lover's exposed neck. "It suits you."

A few mutinous curls had fallen back down to frame Bellatrix's face.

"Thank you for today." Hermione added, knowing she'd asked a lot of her wife. "I love you."

Bellatrix couldn't help but smile. "I love _you_ …" She answered quietly, and not wanting to think about the future much more the evening, wrapped her arms around the young witch and pulled her down to lay beside her, kissing her deeply. Maybe all this would turn out fine. As she slipped Hermione out of her clothes, she wondered if 'fine' consisted of the same thing to them as it did the rest of the world.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N This story is about to go completely off the rails- buckle up, creampuff, the cannons have gone overboard.**

It was a month before Harry went insane, 6 weeks until the ministry caught him, 6 weeks and 30 minutes until he escaped into muggle London, and 6 weeks and two days before Narcissa had started to suspect Hermione. It was, as Hermione delighted in pointing out to Bellatrix at least three times a day, far too late for Harry by that point.

Their Lord hadn't seemed to have suffered, but then, maybe he had, you never really knew when it came to the Dark Lord of Death and Destruction, did you? Perhaps he had had a couple of bed days here and there. Bellatrix certainly had, although under entirely different and far more enjoyable circumstances.

"I'm merely saying she looks very pleased with herself of late." Narcissa, contrary to popular belief, was actually quite fond of Hermione and at the heart of it, just wanted in on the secret.

"Well I do my best," Her sister agreed airily, absolutely aware of her sisters state.

"Bella, I know you've done something. Tell me what happened!"

"Honestly, Cissa, I have no idea what you mean, what could Hermione and I possibly have done that was dark, unnecessary, and in cold blood?"

At this hint, Narcissa dropped the paper she was feigning interest in onto her lap and stared at her sister in disbelief.

Bellatrix slowly looked up at her and smiled, before looking back down to her own paper again.

The library's grandfather clock seemed to tick louder. Upon seeing that Bellatrix was going to hold out on her further, Narcissa got up from the opposite sofa and sat down with a flourish beside the dark haired woman. She didn't look up.

After five minutes of Narcissa's unblinking blue eyes boring into the side of her, Bellatrix gave in.

"I don't know what the fuss is about, we merely stole the dark lord's rare and valuable corruption stone, murdered the witness, burned his house down, went to Andy's, told her a lot of lies, got her to give it to harry, lied to the dark lord about the whole thing, and sat back and watched Harry loose his tiny mind. Grape?" Bellatrix said all in one go, as if she was recounting some boring gossip from the paper she had gone back to innocently scanning. She offered her sister a grape from the pile she was eating.

Narcissa's jaw was practically on the floor. She stared, unable to believe what she had just heard. "What the hell is a corruption stone? And what did Andy have to do with it? And more importantly have you lost your mind?"

Bellatrix looked at her with her eyebrows raised. "Yes, quite a while ago, have you met me?"

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Bella-"

"I don't know what a corruption stone is, other that what Hermione told me. We needed Andy to give it to Harry."

"And what exactly did Hermione tell you?"

"That it was a dark object that made people go insane the longer they held onto it."

Narcissa blinked. "And that's why Potter went off the deep end? Why did he accept something like that from _you_?"

" _Charming_. We, well, Hermione, told Andy that it was something we found on a raid from his dead parents and that we didn't know what it was but that a note from the aforementioned deceased said that Harry should keep it on him always."

The girl was inventive, Narcissa would give her that. "And why did Andy listen?"

"Because we explained Hermione's circumstance."

"Oh. I'm still surprised at the so called Order, with all their propaganda about being the light."

Narcissa said, chewing over all she had learned. Before Bellatrix could think of a suitable answer, the library door opened and Hermione shuffled in wearing her cloak with her wand held between her teeth and a pile of papers in her hands. "The order eats its babies, no matter what they think of me, I'm still their child, and yet they turned their backs just like that." She declared, taking her wand from her mouth.

"Well that's one way of looking at it." Bellatrix agreed slowly, slightly disturbed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to Hogsmede." She she said simply, slamming the papers down onto the table.

Bellatrix momentarily pinched the bridge of her nose. " _Why_?" She asked, as if it was the last thing she could imagine wanting to do.

"Cause trouble." Came the nonchalant reply.

"Alone? You'll get yourself killed-"

"Not if I kill first."

Narcissa looked unsettled. "Perhaps somewhere further from the Order's grasp would be a safer destination." She chipped in, futilely.

Hermione was avoiding all eye contact and it concerned her wife immensely. Whilst she was sure a killing spree would alleviate what ever was brewing behind her eyes, she wasn't sure that Hogsmede was the best place for it.

"Boring. I'll be back later."

"'Mione, you can't go out there alone, you can't always fight 1000 to 1- _Hermione_ -"

They younger witch was already half way to apperating when Bellatrix caught her wrist.

"It's a suicide mission." Bellatrix said simply, forcing Hermione to look at her. She was desperately searching for something to reason with, Bellatrix dreaded Hermione getting like this. Her reeling mind couldn't think of anything that might have tripped this sort of reaction; Hermione lost her shit _all the time_ , but it was a rarity she did so so _calmly_ and everyone knew her calm didn't tend to last long before a completely insane rage exploded that even Bellatrix could get burned trying to deal with.

Narcissa left the room before her mere presence made the situation worse. It was common knowledge that Bellatrix was the only one with a dog in these fights and that it was best to leave them in her expert hands.

"I'm going to apparate in, blow some things up, burn some things down, kill Ron-"

Bellatrix shook her wife's arm a little. "Ron isn't _at_ Hogsmede, he's still on the run-"

"Not anymore, Nagini said he was spotted there less than an hour ago."

"How does _Nagini_ know?" Bellatrix could feel herself losing any control she had over the situation very rapidly.

Hermione pulled closer to Bellatrix until with the grip the death eater had on her wrist, it looked as though they were mid-waltz. "Nagini knows what the dark lord knows. Not questioning our lord, are we, Bells?"

Bellatrix gave her a sarcastic look but she could see Hermione's own self control was hissing away like sand through an hourglass.

"How are you going to watch your back with no help?"

"You know me, Bella, I have eyes in the back of my head."

"Yes, _my_ eyes!" The older witch cried, but before Bellatrix could catch her, Hermione broke free of her hold and disapparated.

When Hermione landed, Hogsmede was busy as usual. The mass threat of their impending dooms at the hands of the dark lord didn't seem to top the people's need for a new book or a better broomstick. Hermione could fix that. She pulled down her hood, knowing it would come down during combat anyway and stepped out from the alley into the light. She hated to leave Bellatrix like she had, and would likely pay for it later, but the revelation of Ron's whereabouts was an issue too close to home to let slide. Not wanting to waste time and risk losing her opportunity, a simple Bombarda Maxima took out a shop front and people immediately scattered, screaming and yelling. Hermione strode down the main street, green flashes of curses and hex's lighting up the terror in the civilian's faces as they scrambled to get away.

A brave few sent curses back and now completely lost to oblivion, Hermione shrieked the killing curse like funeral bells, furious. Witches and wizards dropped like fishing weights and the panic in the air became overwhelming as a row of shops went up in flames regardless of the people trapped inside.

She had a fleeting duel with a wizard in purple robes but she overpowered him too easily, sending him to ground with the others.

"Ronald!" Hermione called in a sing-song voice, glass in her hair and in her voice. A group of wizards fled between the burning shops as she approached, firelight dancing in her dark irises and sending ashen shadows across her face. She brought a wall down behind them to trap them between the flames, not caring if one of them got pinned under the rubble. Amongst the screams of distress and the one hysterically wailing baby that echoed through the quickly emptying streets, a new sound caught her attention. She knew she didn't have long before someone sent for help and turned with a malicious smile to see a crop of red hair appear from around the corner of one of the few shops that was completely untouched.

Ron had dark shadows under his eyes and his face was gaunt. In the dying light he reminded Hermione of Sirius, his hair too long and unkempt, his clothes ripped. Obviously living on the run alone was harder than he had imagined.

He emerged from the shadows in a moment of bravado that he was so famed for and Hermione couldn't believe her luck.

"You." He rasped, doing his best impression of circling her from a distance. Smoke was beginning to fill the streets and the fire lit it up like amber powder paint.

Hermione laughed loudly and fired a few curses at him. Two of them nearly hit and he stumbled, his bravery faltering. He raised his wand shakily.

"You won't get away with this, you mad cow." He said weakly. Hermione could tell he didn't have the mental strength for a duel. "You drove Harry mental and now this." He gestured with his free hand at the carnage.

"Well I heard you were in the area and I thought I'd drop by." Not interested in anymore pretending, Hermione fired the final curse at him. Ron threw himself to the ground and rolled to his knees, then to his feet, and started off running. He couldn't beat Hermione on a good day, if he was at his full strength and if she was wandless, he wasn't stupid enough to try under these circumstances.

Thrilled at this new bonus, Hermione started off after him, blowing chunks from the buildings on her way past just because she could.

"Run!" She screamed through the smoke after him, "Run, boy!"

He ran, arms flailing as he hurled himself over the rubble and bodies and around a corner into an alley in an attempt to lose her. Hermione threw a few more curses at him, enjoying the smell of fear. He dropped his wand in the panic and Hermione stooped down to pick it up as she ran over it, tucking it into her sleeve for later.

The young witch rounded the corner and found Ron had stopped, his back to her, arms out slightly and his chest heaving. The small alley ended in a tall wall and no longer possessing his wand, Ron had no means of getting past it.

He turned slowly, his hair plastered to his forehead in sweat at the sudden over exertion on such little energy. Hermione knew well what happened to that bad guys that wasted time with victory gloats. The alley lit up green and the trio lost another member.

Sure that his staring eyes saw no more, Hermione turned and exited the alley, her robes billowing behind her. When she re-appeared into the main street, several people had appeared which she assumed were order members come to investigate. All six wands raised at her at once and she grinned, returning the gesture.

"Good evening, gentlemen." She said politely.

The two wizards on the left re-adjusted their grips on their wands nervously.

"Madam Black." The wizard at the centre answered coldly.

The smoke was heavy now, and Hermione knew two steps backwards and they would lose sight of her completely.

Bellatrix paced for fifteen minutes before deciding she couldn't leave Hermione alone in a potential lion's den. An elf brought her her cloak and she left a note for Narcissa should her sister come looking for her- Narcissa would never allow her to leave if she knew in advance. Not sure what she would be faced with when she arrived in Hogsmede, Bellatrix turned on the spot and willed herself to the little village.

"Oh _fucking_ hell." She muttered when her lungs filled with smoke and rubble grated under her feet. Hogsmede was on fire, and there were broken bricks and shattered glass strewn on the floor like rose petals on valentines day.

 _Well, Hermione's been here._ She thought, peering through the smoke at her wife's handiwork. This was going to have to strike her murder allowances for the rest of the week. To her left, an alley way lit up green and seconds later an obscured figure left the alley.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

Bellatrix cursed again, recognising Hermione's voice at once. She couldn't see far enough, but she assumed the Order had beaten her to it.

"Madam Black."

Bellatrix started as fast as she could without making too much noise towards where her wife had disappeared into the gloom.

"Lovely evening." Hermione commented superfluously, well aware of her wife's presence and not opposed to helping the death eater find her with a few extra verbal hints.

She didn't need to turn around to know when Bellatrix had emerged from the smoke behind her, as the sudden fear that came over the Order members reflected her wife's image more perfectly than any mirror could. Bellatrix didn't say anything but continued her advance, livid at the wands pointed at her universe. Just as she got close enough to slide her arm across Hermione's hips, one of the Order members hit his limit and apperated away in fear, causing his colleagues to take their eyes off the two predators as they tried to grab at him. Bellatrix killed the two closest to her in an instant and Hermione got the one who had spoken to her with a slicing hex across his stubbly throat. The two that remained were blown into the flames to their left as the two witch's both fired Everte Statum at the same time and before anything more could happen, Bellatrix dragged Hermione into the uncomfortable feeling of apperating.

Hermione casually began to unfasten her cloak as Bellatrix stood with her hands on her hips.

"Mm." Hermione made an approving noise as she looked her irked wife up and down. Hermione thought all the gradients of pissed-off suited Bellatrix greatly.

"How were you intending to get out of that one, Hermione?" Bellatrix demanded, taking her own cloak off and throwing it to the floor.

"Well I assumed you'd come and help, you're never one to miss out on some fun."

"You burned half the village down! You had no way of knowing I would turn up."

Hermione gave her wife a smug smile. "But you did."

Angry at her recklessness, but also secretly in love with the devastation her wife had caused, Bellatrix grabbed her wife's waist and shoved her roughly against their bedroom wall.

Hermione looked immensely pleased with herself as she smiled against Bellatrix's harsh lips, running her hands through soft dark curls.

"Why is fighting such an aphrodisiac for you?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

"Maybe I prefer taking you when you've glass in your hair and blood on your hands." Bellatrix growled back, not entirely sure she was lying.

Hermione grinned and bit her wife's lip teasingly. Not wanting to lose the upper hand, Bellatrix picked Hermione up and threw her graciously to the right and onto their bed. She landed on her back and didn't manage to get back up in time before Bellatrix was back on top of her, and her arms were swiftly pinned above her head. She tilted her head to one side and gave the death eater a lopsided grin. "If this is what you call punishment then there's really no wonder I exercise no self-control."

Bellatrix knew she had a point but in reality, she couldn't have cared less. "We'll tell that to the judge when they finally capture us, mmm?"

Hermione just giggled and pulled Bellatrix down to claim her lips again. "If we were explicit enough, they might let us go." She mumbled, fiddling with the lace of the older witch's dress.

Bellatrix hummed quietly and kissed the brunettes temple tenderly, unable to maintain her annoyance. A distant call from the library made Bellatrix roll her eyes.

"That'll be Cissa found my note."

"You left a note? I was in mortal danger and you were working on your calligraphy?" Hermione did her best to look offended.

"But you could _handle_ it." Bellatrix reminded her, sweetly.

"Yeah, yeah…" Hermione raised her eyebrows and more shouts from the floor below reached them.

"Remind me why she's in our home?"

Bellatrix fixed her with a stern look. "We _invited_ her. To be _nice_."

"Hey I'm _trying_ to be nice- I'm still learning."

"Bellatrix Black unlock this door right now! I cannot believe you left behind my back without saying a word- you could have been killed!" Narcissa banged her fist on the door and Hermione suppressed a giggle.

"She's starting to sound like Molly Weasley." Hermione said quietly.

"Don't let _her_ hear you say that." Bellatrix grinned.

"Well I know it would be a blow but I'm sure the Weasley reputation would survive." Hermione dodged a playful blow. "That's my sister you're speaking of." The death eater reminded, trying not to giggle herself.

"Bellatrix I can hear the two of you in there! Come out!"

Failing miserably and giggling like a teenager, Bellatrix hauled herself off from Hermione and pulled the wards down from the door.

Narcissa's face was so angry that Bellatrix had to drive her nails into her palm not to openly laugh at her.

Behind her, Hermione lay obviously on the bed in the same position she'd been left in, hoping to make a point about privacy.

"I don't know what you think is so funny- anything could have happened to you and I wouldn't have known for hours!"

Bellatrix put on her best placatory face. "Yes, Cissy, I know, I'm a terrible person, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't talk to me for the rest of the night."

She realised after saying it that with Hermione undoubtably lying purposefully suggestively behind her that that probably sounded more like a subtle hint than an attempt at an apology.

Narcissa rolled her eyes and huffed grandly. "You are _incorrigible_. I don't know if the two of you together makes you better or worse, I really don't."

Bellatrix smiled. "Well you let me worry about those very blurred lines, won't you." The older sister said kindly, turning Narcissa by the shoulders and pushing her subtly in the direction of her own bedroom.

The blonde didn't bother to argue and with one last disapproving look over her shoulder, left her sister and sister-in-law to it before she became an unwilling voyeur.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, it looks like I'm on a spree at the minute.**

 **Sanekittens, the start of this one's for you :)**

The snake sang hermione's praises into her lord's ear every day like slow dripping honey. Voldemort, rather fond of the witch himself, found that he had began to trust the witch more in recent weeks, whether from Nagini's constant persuasions or the simple fact that she really was just a remarkable asset to his cause. She had singlehandedly all but destroyed Hogsmede _and_ killed the Weasley blood-traitor in one evening. Of course, Bellatrix had gone to retrieve her after long, but he was becoming accustomed to having his best death eater worrying over her wife. Before Hermione, he hadn't seen the dark witch worry for anyone other than her sister, and even then she rarely was open with it.

Hermione helped greatly to keep the eldest Black sister grounded when before she would have been unpredictable and dangerous, to herself as much as anyone else. For that he was grateful also; Bellatrix having her feet on the ground so to speak meant that she could focus more clearly, and her clear focus, in turn, allowed her to control Hermione's own impulses. It was a perfect set up where everybody won. Apart from Harry. But the dark lord cared little about that.

"Fetch Bella," The dark lord mused to his serpentine companion, "I think given the circumstances we should keep this new found pace of attack which the young Madam Black is so skilled at keeping up."

The snake nodded in her approval and her obedience, and slithered across the dark wood table and onto the floor.

Nagini found Bellatrix sitting outside discussing whether or not choice was an illusion with her younger sister.

The younger witch noticed the black snake first and nodded towards it to alert her sister.

"Nagini." Bellatrix said, more to herself than to the snake.

Hermione had told her off the week before last after overhearing Bellatrix calling her 'the snake' in front of her. 'Nagini says she has a _name_.' The witch had chided her, the snakes eyes following the death eater around the room. Bellatrix had apologised, foolish as she felt. She had only complied out of a sense of debt- when Hermione had first been recovering, Nagini had spent all day and night coiled up on the bed with her, usually where the sleeping witch could loosely hug the serpents massive head to her chest. She had put off at least three attempts other death eaters had made on the young girls life, and Bellatrix, no matter how little she understood about snakes, their language, or their ways of thinking, was immeasurably grateful.

The snake nodded towards the house and Bellatrix assumed she was wanted. She stood, excused herself to her sister, and followed the snake's gaze into Malfoy Manor. She found her lord in the dining room, seated at the head of the large mahogany table.

"My lord." She greeted politely, bowing her head.

"Ah, Bellatrix." The dark lord nodded back cordially. "If you are not otherwise engaged, I would like for you to collect both Dolohov and your wife and carry out a rather large scale raid. I have every faith that given the recent display of your wife's capabilities, the three of you shall be sufficient."

"Yes my lord." Bellatrix agreed, wondering what he meant by 'large scale'.

"Excellent. You are to go to King's Cross station. I wish for you to de-rail a train."

Bellatrix caught herself before the surprise spread the her eyes. "De-rail, my lord?" She asked, unsure of what that would consist of.

"Yes. Any which way you like. Considering the intention is to cause chaos and a healthy does of death, I should like very much for Hermione to deal with the details. I would be most interested to see how she handles it."

Bellatrix cursed inwardly. There went the already less-than-modest record of 19 deaths in one day. She was really going to have to get a handle on this.

"As should I." Bellatrix answered, not lying. She _did_ enjoy watching Hermione cause chaos, however much it troubled her ethics.

"Then that will be all; I believe you will find Antonin in a muggle park in the city centre. He is dealing with personal matters, but they should be more than dealt with by now."

Bellatrix wasn't going to ask. She assured him the job would be done, and apperated to the address her lord had given her, finding Antonin very quickly.

She explained the situation to him as they walked the edges of the park and Antonin agreed that it was likely this was going to be gloriously messy.

Mid step, Antonin stopped suddenly. "Is that... Is that Hermione?" He asked uncertainly.

Bellatrix turned around at the mention of her wife's name and peered in the same direction her company was looking in.

"...Yeah." She said in confusion. She could see her wife's outline sitting on a bench on the fringes of the park.

"What exactly is she doing here? In the middle of all the kiddies?" Antonin asked pointedly, hinting for Bellatrix to go and contain her before something distasteful happened.

Bellatrix eyebrows raised in realisation and without further a word she began striding purposefully towards the opposite side of the field.

"Bella, what an... Odd surprise." Hermione greeted.

"Odd?"

"Well this isn't really your usual habitat." Hermione elaborated.

"A park?"

Hermione laughed. "The outdoors."

Bellatrix smacked her arm playfully and sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. It was the best way Bellatrix could think of to restrain her wife from any sudden movements. "Seriously though, what are you doing?"

"I like to come here when life gets stressful." Hermione said airily, aware that her mental state was being surveyed. She leaned against the warm body beside her in a show of subtle compliance she wouldn't have readily admitted to out loud.

"Oh." Bellatrix said, not having expected such a straightforward answer and relaxing a little. "For the fresh air?"

"No. To watch the dim muggle children, they're _hilarious_. That one over there that's crying with its mummy," Hermione said, pointing, "Just fell off that thing over there," she pointed the same finger to a set of steps that went up to a metal chute which came back to the ground. " _Face_ first into that kid over there." The younger witch laughed, pointing finally to another toddler who was also crying to its mother.

"That one's face is bleeding." Bellatrix said in alarm, looking at a blonde boy of no more than 3.

"Yeah, the first kid had his mouth open with its wailing and bit half the other kids cheek off when he landed." Hermione laughed in a way that both lit Bellatrix's heart up and low key concerned her.

"How, exactly, did the fist child fall from..." Bellatrix waved her hand at the structure, suddenly suspicious.

Hermione frowned. "I don't know," Hermione replied, "It was strange, _almost_ as if some invisible force hit him _right_ in the stomach and pushed him."

Bellatrix looked at her wife with her mouth open. "Hermione! Are you seriously sitting here using magic to push two year olds off from playing equipment?" She asked, assuming that's what all the brightly coloured little structures were.

Hermione tried to look serious for a moment and before she could answer with some justification, a third infant fell face first into a large square pit of sand.

Hermione burst out laughing as he got himself back up on chubby legs, standing with his mouth open and full of sand, too in shock to cry or brush himself off. His face still frozen in the moment, his father was with him in seconds to check him over.

"I didn't even touch that one!" The brunette said as if she couldn't believe her luck.

Bellatrix watched Hermione with one eyebrow raised and a half smile on her face. She loved her wife more than anything, but she was _twisted_.

"Well I hate to interrupt the fun, my love, but Antonin is waiting for us. We're going to blow some things up." Bellatrix added upon seeing her wife's reluctance to leave her vantage point, in an attempt to persuade her. Hermione instantly looked more interested.

" _Fine_." She sighed, getting up and trailing behind Bellatrix back through the grass.

"She came to de-stress." Bellatrix said to the waiting Antonin as they approached, not stopping.

"Fresh air?" Antonin asked sensibly, at the same conclusion she had previously drawn.

"No, to watch the children fall and hurt themselves at her whim." Bellatrix said as if it were a perfectly normal occurrence but with a slight roll of her eyes.

Hermione smiled widely at him as she followed her wife past. He stood staring after them in disbelief for a while before grumbling to himself and following on.

"So, where are we going?" Hermione skipped down the grassy hill along side Bellatrix with a whimsical smile.

Antonin eyed her almost nervously. "We're going to King's Cross. We intend to de-rail a train."

Hermione's mouth opened in a smile of overwhelming joy and her eyes were wide and sparkly like she'd just met her hero.

Bellatrix nudged her, "Our lord has allowed for the decision of exactly how and _where_ the train will be coming off it's rails to you. He is still most pleased, and no slight amount amused at your dealing with Weasley."

Hermione threw her head back and laughed, before skipping on ahead of them down the hill and into the small cluster of trees she assumed they were aiming for.

"Merlin help us." Antonin muttered, watching her blast a stray rabbit up into orbit with a powerful flick of her wrist before disappearing into the tree line.

"Did she use her wand for that?" Bellatrix asked, concerned, looking up into the air for any sign of the rabbit.

"Didn't look like it." Dolohov answered, keeping his eyes forward to hide his amusement.

Bellatrix muttered something unintelligible under her breath, and her company rightly assumed the the witch was as worried as she should have been at the developments of Hermione's less predictable methods of magic.

When they caught up with the younger witch, she was lounging like a panther along a low branch of a beech tree, one arm dangling down towards the ground.

"Right, if anything goes wrong, we meet back here." Bellatrix said firmly, watching Hermione to make sure she was paying attention. Satisfied that the younger witch had heard her, she held out her arms and caught the brunette as she dropped down gracefully from the tree. Steadying her wife with one arm, she held out the other to Antonin who took it respectfully and they disapperated as one from the trees with a crack.

King's Cross was busy. Muggles were crawling everywhere, unaware of the danger. Antonin, Bellatrix and Hermione had found a free bench to sit on, under a disillusionment charm, whilst the latter worked out her plan. It took her a worryingly short amount of time, and Bellatrix had to wonder if she'd thought of doing this before.

"Magical traps." Hermione said, as if it were all that was needed to explain what was going on in her mind.

"Mmm?" Bellatrix asked, not having heard her clearly as she had watched, lost in her feelings of affection, her wife as she had sat deep in thought.

"I said, magical traps. We will lay a disgusting amount of them, all across the tracks, and when the train hits them-" Hermione pushed her fists together and then pulled them apart, opening her fingers in what Bella assumed was her interpretation of an explosion.

"All right," Dolohov said, leaning forward to see her past Bellatrix, "What sort?"

"Anything that will have a similar effect to stupefy." Hermione said with conviction.

Bellatrix's brow creased. "He said to de-rail it, not put it through the _roof_." She commented, smirking.

Hermione grinned. "It wont get that far." She assured cryptically.

Bellatrix and Dolohov exchanged looks, shrugged, and the three of them began to cover the nearest train tracks in any cursed traps they could think of. The muggles wondered on by oblivious.

"Alright," Hermione said, after almost thirty traps had been layered over the train's narrow path. "We have about four minutes before the train pulls in. I suggest we _move_."

Bellatrix stood and Hermione and Antonin followed her until they were a good distance away. They watched, anxiously for another few minutes before the unmistakable sound of a train made Hermione's face light up.

It pulled in to view, chugging amiably, and Hermione turned to the two death eaters. "Stay here." She commanded.

Before Bellatrix could grab her, she started sprinting towards the train. She came to a halt just as the train hit the traps, and with open mouths, Bellatrix and Dolohov watched as all of them detonated at once. The front of the train crumpled and then, followed by another four carriages, flew up into the air like the rearing head of a mechanical snake. As it reached the brow of it's ascent, Hermione sent a flash from her wand that made the muggles scatter, and the train went into slow motion, suspended by god knows what the dark witch had done to it.

Antonin didn't get the chance to ask her wife what the hell Hermione was doing before he and Bellatrix had to duck behind cover. Fire exploded from the train's every window as it sailed silently over the platform, glass showering everything, and just as it aligned its self perpendicular to the tracks, Hermione brought her wand down in a hard ark and the train followed, suddenly smashing itself down across the two platforms and all the people on them. Bellatrix watched with her heart in her mouth as the debris flew towards Hermione, only to turn to soft powder as it met with the magical barrier she had quickly erected.

Not quite finished, Hermione raised her wand arm once more and to Bellatrix's disbelief, the train began to scream and crunch its way along the two platforms towards her, wiping out everything, including supporting walls, that stood either side. As it gathered momentum, Hermione turned her back on it and ran back towards Bellatrix, looking thrilled to be being chased by a train that would kill her instantly if it got too close. Bellatrix reached out and grabbed her wife by the arm and Dolohov by the collar and pulled them both in to hastily apparate, seconds before they were all crushed, leaving the destroyed station eerily silent behind them.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hermione! A train?! Three times you were nearly killed tonight!"

"Three?" The younger witch asked, only able to identify one.

"Yes, three! Running straight at a train that was about to blow up, standing in the way of debris that was bigger than you, and then trying to out run a carriage which was coming towards you like some arm sweeping all the pieces off a chess board! What was supposed to happen if you were killed? What the hell was I supposed to do without you?"

Bellatrix sounded like she was about to cry, which was Hermione's main warning that she should start being sorry- Bellatrix rarely cried about anything.

"It was under my control... I wouldn't have actually mowed me down." She argued weakly.

"It doesn't matter if it would have, I still had to stand there and watch that almost come to pass!"

"I had to watch you go into a burning building once!"

"It was only burning because you tried to use fiendfyre to kill a house spider!"

Hermione pouted and her eyes glazed over with tears, of which Bellatrix couldn't be sure were real or forced. "It was a really big spider." She said in a small voice, sounding strained like a child getting scolded and who was too about to cry.

Bellatrix screwed her eyes tight and covered her mouth with the back of her hand, willing the images of the train away. The motion had meant to stop tears but instead, in had forced the ones already there down her cheeks.

Defeated, Hermione shuffled forwards to hug her wife. After a second or two, Bellatrix raised her arm to hold Hermione tightly where she was and Hermione took that as at least slight recognition that she was trying to make up for it.

"Please don't do that again." Bellatrix said simply.

"Which bit?" Hermione asked, genuinely wondering what she was being prohibited from doing.

"Scaring the living hell out of me using your life and the sudden threat of its untimely end."

Hermione buried her head back against her wife's chest. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Well at least tell me before you do something reckless."

"I meant back here."

"Why would I get hurt here?"

Hermione went quiet and Bellatrix kissed the top of her head softly. "Hey," she prompted. "Why would I get hurt here?"

"Nagini told me that unless the dark lord was impressed massively with some show of loyalty then he was going to take you to 'question' you about some things. We all know what that means."

Bellatrix stared straight ahead for a moment before realisation hit her. "You tried to get a train to kill you so I wouldn't get punished?"

Hermione looked up at her with big eyes as if she was running that through her head to check its truth. "Yes." She said firmly. "Was that wrong?" She added, suddenly unsure. She wanted Bellatrix to stop being mad at her.

Bellatrix just stared at her for a long time. She couldn't believe that what she had just seen Hermione do had been, at its core, an attempt to save her from a mere ticking off. Could you call that an act of love?

Bellatrix, almost crippled under the stress of the last few days, began to cry. Hermione looked slightly confused as to why- she couldn't understand why her almost dying for her wife's welfare was in any way a shock to Bellatrix. Bellatrix put her other arm around Hermione and the younger witch leaned against her. "You don't think I would die for you?" She asked after a couple of minutes, not sure if that was the conclusion she was mean to have come to.

"It's not that... It's just a shock when it actually happens, and not that I'm not grateful, but for the record, my getting a telling off is not a reason for you to get a good enough reason to get a train involved, okay?"

Hermione nodded into Bellatrix's cleavage. "No one gets to hurt you." The ex Gryffindor stated.

Bellatrix smiled sadly. "Thanks for the sentiment, love. I can take a crucio every now and again though you know."

Hermione frowned and held her wife tighter. "Quite literally, over my dead body." She mumbled.

Bellatrix sighed heavily. "What was He going to be asking me about, anyway?"

"I don't know, but He's not touching you for anything that was undoubtably my fault."

The death eater smiled into her witch's hair. Hermione could be quite sweet when she wanted to be.

"I'm sorry I got mad, beautiful. You did a good job with the train."

Hermione peeked up at her, not sure if she was really forgiven or not.

"And thank you for saving me from getting blasted by the dark lord. Even if it was a little drastic."

Hermione mumbled something that Bellatrix didn't hear before there was an odd irregular thudding at the door. Bellatrix untangled herself from Hermione and opened it. Nagini slithered in.

She snaked her way passed Bellatrix, across the carpet and up to Hermione. Slowly, she began to coil her way up Hermione's body until she was around her neck like a huge smooth-scaled scarf.

"Hey nagini." Hermione said dejectedly, petting the snake's head absentmindedly. All Bellatrix heard was the odd flow of parseltongue.

The snake hissed back for a long time and Hermione listened, still petting her.

Hermione hissed in short response and the serpent descended from her body and climbed up to wrap herself around the curtain pole, draping her body round and round until she was comfortable. Bellatrix guessed she was going for a rest somewhere she could keep an eye on Hermione.

The young witch sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Nagini said the dark lord is satisfied." She said, hoping Bellatrix would forgive her entirely on the news.

Bellatrix looked up at Nagini and nodded. "Oh. That's good. Thank you." She said again, including Nagini this time.

Hermione got up and went to sit under the large wooden table. Bellatrix didn't know what she was doing under there, but she seemed to have some kind of carving project going on as she spent a lot of time under there with a small knife, scratching at the underside of the table.

Bellatrix picked up a book for half an hour, still trying to process everything. After finding she couldn't focus on the words, and realising that dinner was only an hour away, she put the book back down and turned her mind to a nap.

Hermione could never just lay beside Bellatrix of a night, she would only ever last ten minutes before Bellatrix would feel her lover turn over and arms would appear around her middle and the young witch's forehead would rest gently against the back of her neck. Not that Bellatrix minded, of course, in fact, she rather liked it, it meant she could sleep without worrying Hermione had snuck out to murder someone who had annoyed her over the course of the day. That and she loved to be so close to her wife.

Now was no different. Bellatrix felt it necessary that Hermione take a break before they joined the Malfoys for dinner, considering the amount of energy she must have used earlier. She didn't think for a moment that that was all Hermione had in her, if fact she knew damn fine that if another train had pulled in, she probably would have done that one too. The magic she had used however had been powerful, and Bellatrix wanted to make absolute sure that Hermione was recovering okay. Fatigue made Hermione a thing of great danger.

Knowing that the witch was likely to make a quip about not being elderly if her wife outright suggested a nap to her, Bellatrix had instead declared that she was going for a nap, and much to her feeling of underhanded sneakiness, Hermione had given up whatever she had been doing to the underside of the table and Bellatrix had felt the arms come around her within four minutes.

She turned around and pulled Hermione closer, contentedly.

"I love you." She whispered quietly into the younger girls hair.

Hermione made a soft sound of agreement and fell asleep soon after.

When she awoke, Bellatrix was alarmed to find they had about twenty minutes to get themselves downstairs for dinner without evoking Narcissa's wrath.

She shook her wife gently and Hermione made a grumbling sound as she felt her wife leave her side. "Get up, we're going to be late for dinner."

Bellatrix started rifling through her wardrobe for an evening dress and Hermione watched her change into it sleepily.

Hermione sat up and smiled, reaching behind her for her wand. "Nice dress." She commented casually, using her magic to dress herself, not bothered enough to dress bit by bit like her wife. Bellatrix looked over her shoulder at her. Before she could say anything, Hermione flicked her wand and Bellatrix's dress was gone. She let her head fall back and set her jaw, her hair cascading down her back. "Hermione Black. Put my dress back on." She ordered.

The younger woman crept from the bed and ran her hands down her wife's exposed back.

"'Mione…" The older woman groaned. "Narcissa-"

"Can wait."

Bellatrix growled but Hermione pushed the death eater's hips forward into the cold wall and her breath was forced rather quickly from her lungs at the shock of her bare skin making contact with the cool surface.

"I swear to god if we're late-" Bellatrix gasped.

"Then we'll tell everyone in great detail what kept us." Hermione finished mischievously, pressing herself against Bellatrix's back and slipping her hands underneath the thin fabric of her bra.

Bellatrix sighed in defeat. Of _course_ Hermione couldn't have started this an hour ago. Of _course_ she didn't have the will power to stop her.

Hermione kissed the back of her neck and pinched a nipple softly, pulling her wife away from the wall she'd had her trapped against and throwing her back towards their bed. Bellatrix's darkened eyes told her that she'd already won this fight, and delighted that her wife was such a pushover, Hermione pushed the death eater down into the pillows and ripped the bra that was annoying her so much from the woman's body, throwing it carelessly behind her. Smirking, she kissed her wife with bruising force, teasing her with the contrast of feather light strokes over her breasts with her fingertips.

Bellatrix wasn't going to beg. Instead she did her absolute to try and overthrow Hermione's tongue's reign of power.

It didn't happen, and the death eater felt her resolve begin to shake as Hermione let one hand travel down over her stomach and fiddle with the lace of her panties.

The brunette watched her lover's eyes close tightly and found herself considering mercy. She pushed Bellatrix's knee which was bent upright and leaning against the younger witch's side to the left and took the opportunity of movement to wandlessly do away with the underwear which was, Hermione found, really rather in her way.

She ran a single finger down the death eater's centre and grinned. "And Bella, you're so wet, yet you we're _so_ against being late for dinner."

Bellatrix fixed her wife with a look which was probably meant to be threatening but came across as quite arousing.

Hermione just laughed. At a leisurely pace, she lowered herself down to kiss along Bella's inner thigh, enjoying watching her wife squirm.

"'Mione…"

Bellatrix couldn't bring herself to care that her pleading meant Hermione had won. It made all the difference to the brunette though, and after a few more long minutes she finally gave in with her teasing and let the tip of her tongue grace her lover's clit.

Bellatrix watched for a few seconds as her wife made cruel eye contact before she let her head fall back and put her forearm over her eyes.

Hermione repeated the small motion until she feared getting slapped and picked up her pace, listening to her wife purr below her.

Bellatrix moaned sharply as her wife slipped two fingers into her and Hermione let her take what she needed to come undone, wanting more to see her in the most beautiful state she could imagine than to see her begin to concoct death threats for her prolonged mistreatment.

Bellatrix came annoyingly hard considering she'd protested so much, but Hermione forgave her on the basis that she was perfect.

As her wife tried to recover, Hermione found herself on the receiving end of a barely disapproving raised eyebrow.

"Love you." The brunette whispered, leaning down and kissing her wife's temple.

Bellatrix's lips quirked slightly at the corners, despite her best efforts.

"You smiled, I'm off the hook!" Hermione jumped up and skipped past the bed and out of the room and Bellatrix tried not to let her exasperation show too much on her face as she struggled to dress again.

Bellatrix wasn't at all surprised to see Hermione mockingly joining in with Narcissa in the questioning looks that she got when she was late down to dinner, the girl's face barely straight as she saw the slightly murderous look on her lover's face.

"What kept you? Your wife was punctual." Narcissa said accusingly.

"I'm sure Bella had no _intent_ to be late." Hermione placated. She winked at Draco across the table who choked on his water, earning a mild scolding look from his father beside him.

As usual, dinner was excellent as was the company, and Bellatrix found Hermione's hand crept onto her thigh by the time the house elves were bringing around after-meal wine. She kicked her under the table and the younger witch sniggered, much to the confusion- and alarm on Draco's part- of the rest of the table.

"So, why _were_ you late?" Narcissa turned sternly to her sister.

"Well," Hermione started matter-of-factly.

Bellatrix, suddenly remembering Hermione's threat to tell the dinner table in detail of what had occupied them, could think of no more evolved response than to clamp her hand over her wife's mouth, looking straight ahead and sipping her wine.

The action alone must have been enough to tip Narcissa off and Draco had gone scarlet. Childishly, Hermione licked her wife's hand to make her pull it away and Bellatrix looked at her like she might have looked at someone who had eaten something sticky after dropping it on the floor.

Hermione smiled and Narcissa muttered something about newly weds under her breath. Lucius was giggling into the back of his hand and Draco was back to studying the floor.

Dinner lasted another half hour or so and Lucius told them of his weeks work looking for signs of Potter, who was apparently now as wandless as he was brainless, before Bellatrix took a firm hold of her young witch's hand and half led half marched her back up stairs to show her what mistreatment really meant.

 **A/N: Kris6, thank you for being epic.**

 **If you weighed up how many words I have written for this fic, and how many you have left in reviews, pound for pound there's probably more on your side.**

 **Stay groovy. And please also stay organised, as I rely on your feedback probably more than I should, for this, and Lotus Flowers :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/N:_** **Okay, anyone still there? I'm alive. Panic over. New job. Horrible hours. Please forgive. I love you all, still. As you were.**

It was late in the evening, perhaps nearing half past eleven, when Nagini's head rose from where it had been resting agilely on the curtain pole. She looked to the window below her and then Hermione piped up, "Your sister's here. _Again_."

Bellatrix groaned and sat up from the comfortable position she had been resting on her side in. Hermione was always right, she wasn't going to question how she knew, assuming it was Nagini.

"What exactly are you doing under there, my love?" She asked as she rose from the bed.

Hermione ducked down to look out from under the table and at her wife. "I never said you couldn't look." Hermione sounded suspiciously defensive.

Bellatrix stooped down and Hermione moved aside to let her join her under the table.

"Oh, it's Fenrir being eaten by a shark. What else?" Bellatrix asked, mainly to herself. The carving was really very good, a little _too_ realistic in parts, and certainly not the plans of evil domination Bellatrix had been expecting.

" _No_." Hermione said indignantly, "That one's from ages ago."

Bellatrix was about to argue when she noticed that there were more carvings under the table, some larger than others, scattered all over the length of the wood. She also noticed that apart from Fenrir, they were almost all of her.

" _This_ is the one I'm doing now." Hermione corrected, pointing at a beautifully detailed carving of Bellatrix's face, hair, and shoulders. It was unfinished around the bottom edge, but it didn't look far off.

"I'm not sure if this is really sweet or really scary. They're all beautiful, either way." Bellatrix commented, her eyes wondering over the images. Nagini even featured in some.

"Some of us need to de-stress." Hermione muttered.

"Mm, it must be _so_ stressful killing and maiming whomever you please whilst I'm run ragged after you."

Hermione fixed her with a sarcastic look and Bellatrix kissed her cheek, amusement still in her eyes. "I thought you went to the muggle park to torment children to de-stress?"

"Well sometimes it's raining. All the soggy muggle children stay inside."

"Fair enough." Bellatrix said, adding that to the list of things she needed to limit Hermione from doing too often.

The door finally sounded as Narcissa finished walking up the long gravel path from where she had apparated to the gates. Bellatrix half wondered why her sister hadn't just used the floo, it always had suited her aristocratic personality more.

"Well, this can't be good." Bellatrix sighed, climbing out from under the table and leaving her room to allow her sister in.

—

"He's called a meeting. Lucius sent me to tell you." Narcissa looked uncharacteristically tired as she stood on the doorstep. The air was heavy and humid.

"The Dark Lord?"

"No, father christmas, _yes_ the dark lord."

Bellatrix waved her marked arm in front of her sister's face in confusion. If he wanted his inner circle, then surely he would have called them as he always did.

"He doesn't want to use the marks. He thinks some of the inner circle have gone… 'rogue'."

"What? Who?"

"Oh god, I really don't know, Bella, I think he's finally lost it, even Lucius said he seemed a little… fixated…"

For a long time Bellatrix stared at her sister with her mouth slightly open, feeling a sort of dread. She slowly looked behind her into the house towards where she knew Hermione was still under the table.

"Get yourself home, Cissa. I should think myself and my wife will be gone a while."

Narcissa nodded and Bellatrix closed the door behind her, worry setting in. She didn't know if Hermione would be able to control herself if the Dark Lord decided to snap at either of them.

Hermione hadn't bothered to dress, not that Bellatrix could really talk since she herself was still in her night dress, but in her unsettled state she scolded her anyway.

"'Mione, we need to go." She said seriously, throwing a dress and a black coat at her.

They both dressed quickly, and Hermione listened intently as Bellatrix explained what was happening.

"I thought something was up when you said he didn't trust you about the train thing. He seemed perfectly happy when he suggested it to me. Is this it? Is it the stone?"

Hermione nodded. "Buttons." She said, grimly.

For a moment Bellatrix was thrown, until she realised that the coat she had handed her needed to be fastened with two columns of buttons down the front. Hermione despised buttons.

The coat was heavy, rippled almost to the point of pleated around the bottom, and pale cream silk looked out from behind the black where it fell to one side to let the underneath show. It stopped about six inches above Hermione's knees, and Bellatrix thought it looked very fetching on her.

"There." Bellatrix said, finishing the buttons.

Hermione took Bellatrix's arm and hummed tunelessly as they disapperated.

—

Tavers was there, for the first time in a long time, when Hermione took her seat. He looked like a character out of a Tim Burton film with his gaunt face, purple-ringed eyes, spindly arms and wild matted hair; even his clothing was tattered. He had been injured in a raid several weeks ago and had been recovering in Ireland, Hermione assumed that distance had been what had brought his alibi and kept him above Voldemort's new suspicion.

Fenrir was there also, accompanied by Rookwood and Pettigrew. Rowle, Antonin, Yaxley and Draco were nowhere to be seen. Bellatrix took her seat, her face murderous even though she was likely unaware of it. It was enough to nip what ever Fenrir had been about to say to Hermione in the bud, though, and before he could change his mind, the Dark Lord arrived, Nagini in tow.

"Friends," He opened his arms, narrow eyes scanning over the notably smaller congregation. "These are dark times. The enemy is all around, and now-" His eyes passed from Hermione to Bellatrix, "I fear they are among us."

Fenrir bared his teeth at Hermione in the split second he thought he could get away with it.

Hermione stuck her middle finger up at him, and he growled, trying to shift his gaze away and avert what he might have started without loosing too much face.

Hermione smirked cruelly and then turned her attention back to the Dark Lord.

"As for whom the bell tolls for, I cannot say. But when I find them, they shall suffer greatly for their betrayal."

"Would have thought it would be obvious." Fenrir snarled under his breath, once more sending a spiteful glare in Hermione's direction.

"Fuck you." Hermione spat, still managing to sound dismissive.

"Fuck _you_!" The werewolf slammed his hand down on the table. " _You're_ the mental one, _you're_ the one who killed Rod, _you're_ the one who'll have betrayed us!"

Hermione stood suddenly, her chair flung behind her violently as she rose. Fenrir pushed himself up too, teeth bared again. Bellatrix made a grab for Hermione's wrist in an attempt to keep a lid on things, but missed narrowly as hexes began to fly.

It was obvious Hermione had had enough, and a slicing hex gushed blood from the halfbreed's forehead, his left eye disappearing under the red sheets. He howled in pain, and just as Hermione was about to either kill him or torture him, the Dark Lord joined the fray.

"Avada-" The grand voice crushed mid spell.

Nagini launched herself at the dark lord, the bulk of her impressive body hitting him square in the chest and knocking him to the ground. By the time he had recovered, Nagini was planted firmly in front of Hermione, reared up and ready for his response.

The Dark Lord raised his wand at the snake, seemingly in shock and out of reflex from her fondness toward the animal, the young witch raised her wand similarly at him. The circle was silent, Pettigrew in fear, the others in complete awe of the scene unfolding before them.

Nagini hissed at her master as quickly as possible, her attempts to diffuse the situation likely confused for aggression to any outsiders to the language.

"You're acting unreasonably."

"She cannot be controlled!" The dark lord hissed back, enraged at the defiance. "She should bow to me before Bellatrix! I am her Lord, and I am her master. She would kill those loyal few I have left."

"How dare you!" Hermione's parseltongue became corse in her fury.

Bellatrix was staring at the scene in dismay, unable to decipher what was going on but not blind to the growing threat of uncontrollable violence.

The Dark Lord reeled at the input from the young witch. He had once had a curios wondering whether or not she might be able to understand parseltongue, but he never would have expected her to be able to speak it. He noticed Bellatrix didn't look at all surprised and surmised it was something else she had kept from him. Predictably she had her wand drawn, the most vicious protector Hermione had along side, it would seem, his own familiar.

"Hermione belongs to her wife. This situation is unnecessary. We cannot fight among ourselves when Potter still roams free." Nagini intentionally mentioned the boys name in a bid to distract the Dark Lord from her further defiance in favour of Bellatrix. It didn't work.

The Dark Lord took his gaze from Hermione where it had still been caught, and pinned it speechlessly back to Nagini.

"Who are you loyal to?" He raged, back into english such was his lack of thought. Bellatrix tightened her grip on her wand, hearing the one phrase she hadn't wanted to.

Not waiting for an answer, the Dark Lord shot the only curse he seemed to think was fitting at the snake, and Bellatrix tried not to get too caught up in her low key marvelling at Hermione's reflexes.

Hermione blocked the killing curse from hitting the snake like it was child's play and then grabbed the length of Nagini's body to stop her mid lunge, open fangs inches from her master's throat.

In the time it took the Dark Lord to stumble clumsily away from the unexpected follow up attack, Hermione sliced every other inch of his skin with a jinx and then let herself fall back into her wife who apparated them, snake and all, away before he could retaliate.

—

Hermione screamed with laughter when they landed, bent almost double with the effort.

"Hermione-" Bellatrix was unusually pale and she didn't blink as she watched her wife spiral out of control.

There was a crack, and Tavers appeared beside them, bleeding from a cut across his shoulder and wheezing.

Hermione grinned at him and skipped away, laughter echoing down the hallway behind her.

"Well, shit." Tavers said, once she was out of sight.

Bellatrix put her face in her hands and groaned. "Christ almighty, Tavers, we're dead this time." She said eventually.

Tavers twitched. He and Bellatrix had always been good friends.

"Pettigrew's dead. Fenrir is in a feral rage. Rookwood… Well, you never know with Rookwood, he was always been fickle."

Hermione's laugh reached them once more and Tavers cast his eyes up towards the sound.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We?" It hadn't meant to be offensive, but Bellatrix was brusque in her building distress.

"Yeah, we. You, Hermione, and the half of the inner circle that are on your side of this fucked up shit whether they like it or not- although, between you and _Him_ right now, I'd say we're the lucky ones." He chuckled and twisted his neck slightly at the memory of Pettigrew's grisly demise.

"Who else do we have?"

"Antonin, Yaxley, Rowle if we're lucky."

Bellatrix ground her teeth, staring at the floor trying to think. "Get them. Get them here, now."

Tavers bowed like a house elf, arms out and one foot in front of the other as he backed away, and then disapperated without any further words.

Bellatrix steeled herself. "Hermione!" She shouted, unsure which part of the house she was in. She soon realised she could follow the singing.

"Ashes, ashes, they all fall- Bella!"

Bellatrix strode across the room and stared at at Hermione, hard.

"Just in time; red or black?" Hermione was studying the contents of a wardrobe in the spare room that Bellatrix hadn't previously been aware was filled.

"What? Hermione, we-"

"Red or black?"

"I don't- red- Hermione, we _need_ to-"

Hermione went back to singing. Bellatrix stared at the back of her head, her mind ticking furiously as she watched Hermione rip off her coat, buttons scattering on the floor with a wooden clatter, and discard it behind her. She changed into a red tank top and some terribly muggle looking black jeans that clung to her legs- and whilst terribly muggle were also undeniably terribly _attractive_ \- before turning to face Bellatrix with a sly smile.

"Ready?" She asked.

Bellatrix regarded her wife carefully. She had misjudged; Hermione was definitely on one, but not in the aggressive way she had first predicted.

"Ready for what? To go and lie down in the graves we just dug for ourselves?"

Hermione looked at her scoldingly, but then the devious glint returned to her eyes. "I didn't realise you were one to lay down and die. _No_. To go to London."

"Hermione, we're not going to London, we're getting the hell out of dodge. _Now_."

Hermione looked like she was going to apologise for a moment, regarding Bellatrix as if she had made fun of her on a sensitive issue.

It was gone as quickly as it had come and Hermione shrugged, "Nah." she giggled and skipped back past Bellatrix into the hall.

"My boys!" She exclaimed, after a series of loud cracks echoed through the house.

Bellatrix followed her, wondering if Tavers had managed to gather all three. Antonin and Yaxley stood on either side of Tavers. No Rowle. Bellatrix cursed. He would have been helpful if it came to a fight.

"Come on," Hermione ordered heartily, stalking down the hall as the men parted ways for her. "It's not like you have plans."

Bellatrix came to stand in the space left where Hermione had carved her path, and watched in silence with the others as Hermione kicked the front door open and strolled out into the thunderstorm that had boiled over in the last hour.

"Well, then." Tavers smiled with one half of his mouth, one eye crinkled at the corner and his head tilted to one side, motioning after Hermione.

"Shall we?"

—

"My enemies enemy is my friend. If he likes it or otherwise. We just have to catch him."

Antonin looked sideways at Hermione as they climbed the hill in the dark.

"That as may be, but… Potter's _insane_."

Hermione smiled sweetly. "So?"

Yaxley smirked.

"I can't believe you planned all of this without telling me." Bellatrix grumbled. "More to the point, I can't believe you predicted all of this accurately enough that so far, it's worked."

Hermione stopped once they reached the top of the hill. "You would only have tried to stop me." She argued.

Bellatrix didn't know why she was arguing. They were all probably going to be dead by dawn, they may as well go ahead with Hermione's suicide mission and go out with a bang.

"Bellatrix Black, you're a pessimist." The younger witch chided. The rain had soaked them all through, but Hermione didn't seem to feel it on her bare skin at all.

"I'm a realist." Bellatrix retorted.

"Same thing. Now-" They all looked towards where Hermione pointed. "That building there is the Royal Laughlin Hotel. Harry is in there. We don't want to _kill_ him, we want to _catch_ him. We _need_ him."

"Why?" Bellatrix really couldn't piece together why Hermione wanted only to catch Potter, when she had killed Weasley straight off.

"I'll explain once we've got him. Look; it's simple. We flush him out, we chase him down, we catch him, we use him. And if that doesn't work then we'll train him up and make him battle others for petty cash rewards."

They all turned to look at her in confusion.

"What?" She asked innocently. "We could be Team Rocket?" She shrugged it off before anyone could either deny or confirm, and set off down the other side of the hill towards the hotel.

Once they were outside, Yaxley finally spoke up. "How do we get him out without drawing attention?"

Hermione stared at him, and then laughed. Without taking her eyes from him, she drew her wand, jabbed it towards the expensive bath stone exterior of the hotel, blowing in all of the glass of over one hundred ornate windows at once.

"Oh." Yaxley surmised.

"That should get his attention." Hermione mused brightly.

Bellatrix looked wildly around for onlookers. "Are you out of your mind?" She hissed without thinking.

Hermione guffawed. "Are you _seriously_ asking me that question? You're off the chain, Bellatrix, leave the post."

"Please don't have a domestic in the middle of muggle London." Antonin asked politely.

Bellatrix and Hermione shot him dirty looks at the same time.

The older witch knew Hermione was right though, really. If her teenage self had been watching them, she would have been cringing at how uptight she was being.

Above them, muggles began to gingerly poke their heads into the rain from the windows several floors up, and Hermione waved up at them with a smile as employees rushed out side to investigate.

"Excuse me, ma'am-"

Hermione silenced and then knocked the bellboy out with two quick spells. At the display, the rest of the muggles began to run back into the hotel, presumably to call the police.

"Harry!" Hermione called musically. "Come out and play!"

Unexpectedly, Harry came right out of the front doors. He was wearing a dirty black leather jacket, and ripped blue jeans. His hair was as long as Snape's, and he had stubble over his chin. His eyes were dark, and Hermione could see from the way he was standing he still had no wand.

They all stood in absolute silence. Yaxley, next to Bellatrix, next to Hermione, next to Antonin, next to Tavers, one wall against the boy who lived. The only sound was of the rain slapping against the ground like dry rice falling into a metal bowl, bouncing back up a few inches from the tarmac after impact.

With no warning, Harry bolted. He ran like a fox from the hunt as fast as his legs could manage down the pavement, straight towards the centre of London, the street lights guiding his way.

"Do we follow him?" Yaxley called over the rain, like a soldier desperately needing orders.

"Not on foot." Hermione sighed. "Stay."

She disappeared into the hotel, and re-appeared a few seconds later with a set of keys. She threw them at Tavers. "Still remember how to drive?" She grinned.

Tavers grinned back. "I do indeed." He had learned how to drive from a muggle born when he was a teenager, and without the dark lord's knowledge, had kept the hobby as a guilty pleasure ever since.

Naturally, Hermione had stolen the keys to the hotel's black Limousine, and Tavers gleefully got behind the wheel as his four companions climbed into the back.

Inside the hotel, the manager was on the phone, talking frantically and staring at them all, as if remembering their descriptions.

Bellatrix leaned out of the window as the car pulled away and hit him square in the forehead with obliviate. She leaned back into the car and Hermione smiled when she saw the grin on the older witch's face. This was the Bellatrix she knew.

Tavers sped gradually up until it must have been a job in itself not to hit anything. It wasn't long before Harry came back into view at the far end of the street, leaning over and clutching a lamp post trying to catch his breath.

Hermione stood in the back of the car and opened the sunroof. She climbed onto the seat beside Antonin, and stuck her top half out of the car, hair whipping back in the wind and rain. She laughed, and threw a stunner at her old friend. It bounced off the metal of the lamp post in a shower of sparks and Harry threw himself back wards, and then forwards again when he caught sight of the car coming at him.

He took off once more, and Hermione laughed so loudly into the wind the whole of the capital must of heard her. She loved the chase, and she loved knowing she had already won. Harry couldn't outrun a ten year old in his state, let alone a vehicle.

Behind them, red and blue flashed and two shrill sirens started up. "That'll be the muggle police." Hermione shouted down to her partners, as if it were the most hilarious addition to their situation.

She let them follow for a couple more seconds, before taking out the side tyres and whooping as they veered into one another and crashed with an incredible crunching of glass and metal. The red and blue died behind them.

"He's slowing- in that alley!" Tavers shouted out of the window.

The car stopped hastily and Hermione pulled the rest of herself from the sun roof and ran over the roof and down the windscreen, jumping to the floor and sauntering down the alleyway with her wand drawn.

Bellatrix climbed from the car and jogged after her, followed by Yaxley and Dolohov. Tavers knew better than to leave the vehicle.

When they found him, Harry had collapsed, the rain beating down on his chest through the drenched white shirt that showed under his jacket.

He growled at Hermione, his eyes flicking erratically between the four people that were standing over him.

"Now, now, Harry. We only want to work with you." Hermione said, feigning hurt. Her eyeliner was running down her face and her hair clung to her neck and throat.

"I'm _not_ stupid." Harry seethed, in a way that suggested someone had insisted many times that he was.

"Then you'll play along." Bellatrix agreed. She knocked him out, used a spell to bundle him into the back of the limo, and wondered where Hermione was taking them all which she preferred to drive to, rather than apparate.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry stayed unconscious for the entire terrifying journey to Crowlstein Manor. At Hermione's direction, Tavers drove like a thing possessed, and even Bellatrix was relieved when the car eventually stopped. Early morning was lighting the tips of the fir trees like candles as the group emerged from the vehicle.

"Wake him up." Hermione said disinterestedly, as she examined the car for damage. It was untouched, and Antonin grabbed a terracotta plant pot full of stagnant water from a decorative stone balustrade and threw it over the boy who lived. He woke with a start, throwing his arms out to stop the attacker and spluttering.

"So, come on," Yaxley said over his shoulder, regarding Harry as if he felt sorry for him, but not quite enough to help him up from the ground. "What is this place?"

"This," Hermione said, turning her back on the limo, "Is the largest known _permanent_ congregation of magic haters in England."

"Naturally." Bellatrix muttered.

Hermione smiled and slunk over to her wife, leaning sideways on her as she spoke. "They're mainly muggles that slipped through the grip of the ministry after magical incidents, all relatively rich, powerful, and very angry at the wizarding world."

"Soo… We're not going in there then?" Antonin guessed hopefully.

Hermione looked at him scornfully. "Of course we are. Potter, on your feet."

Bellatrix hauled Harry up to his feet, as he was still yet to manage it under his own power. He jerked away from her as if she'd stung him, and she rolled her eyes.

Hermione continued. "One of their number is 'Charles Henry', a wizard formally known as George Coutas. He went missing after a death eater attack a while ago, and now he lives here with the muggles. As far as I can gather, his company aren't aware of his magical blood, and wouldn't be happy if they found out about it. They'll all know Harry's face- anyone that knows anything of the wizarding world knows about the boy who lived.

I'm going to approach them and pretend to be a muggle that's witnessed magic- hence the clothing. They'll let me in, I'll find out where Coutas is, get him alone. Potter- on my signal to Bellatrix, you'll go in through the main doors. Make a scene, and lead all the others into the hedge maze in the grounds. When you're sure everyone has followed you enough to be lost, apparate back to the car."

"I have no wand." He growled, as if she had purposefully suggested using one to force him to admit he couldn't out loud.

Hermione tossed him a wand she took from her belt. Harry looked at it suspiciously, turning it over in his hand. "This is Ron's wand." He said, glowering at her.

"And now it's mine." Hermione said brightly. "And, temporarily, yours!"

Harry bit back his response, obviously not wanting to push his luck and loose the wand as quickly as he had gotten it.

"Can we trust him?" Tavers jerked his head towards Harry without looking at him.

"We've given him a wand, and now we're helping him to destroy the Horcrux's. I'd say he's a very lucky little boy, wouldn't you?" Hermione smirked cruelly at Harry, who seemed thoroughly stumped as to what was going on.

"Tavers; stay in the car, Yaxley, Antonin; you're The Help, Bella;" Hermione dropped a shiny Galleon into the other witch's palm. "You know the drill."

Bellatrix nodded, and Hermione set off down the drive towards the Manor.

"I'm so sorry, I know it's so very early in the morning, but- but what I _saw_ -"

An older man in his early sixties, wearing a purple robe and slippers held his hand up to silence the young woman at the door. She looked like she had been in the rain all night, and was clearly shaken up.

"Say no more- we here understand. Come in, please."

Hermione smiled weakly and cast a look over her shoulder to where she knew her company was waiting, just out of sight.

The carpets were crimson, the walls cream and gold, the furniture, almost entirely solid mahogany. The paintings, still and austere, stared down at her, eyes following her down the hallways and freshly picked flowers in their crystal vases flanked by curtains which were perfectly gathered at the sides of the gleaming windows seemed to mock her. Yes, Hermione thought; this was muggle wealth.

"Gibson, Arnold Gibson." The man said to her grandly when they finally stopped in what looked like a living area, shaking her hand vigorously.

"Luna Lovegood." Hermione returned.

"Very good! Now see here, that chap there in the tweed with the gun," He pointed to a forty-something year old man standing by the window. "His name is James Manderly- going for pheasants later, you know- The gentleman coming down the stairs here is Harold Manderly, James here is his son you see, and as for the rest of us, well I'm afraid they've only just made their way down stairs and are still eating breakfast in the conservatory. Can I get you anything?"

"Oh- no, thank you, I'm fine." Hermione said politely.

"Grand, grand- Ah!" Arnold turned and clasped his hands together in greeting. "Hermione, this young man is one of our newer residents."

Hermione feigned interest in the man- Arnold's junior by at least forty years.

"Charles!" He called.

At the name, Hermione's head snapped back in the direction of the rooms newest addition.

"Come, introduce yourself to our guest!"

Charles sauntered over to them and outstretched his hand to Hermione genially, if pompously. "Charles Henry."

"Luna Lovegood."

"Luna here has seen what we, too, have seen and sought us out, just as you yourself did." Arnold said, leaning in.

"Very good." The man Hermione now knew to be Coutas commended.

"Charles," Hermione said suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to her. "What I saw, the wizards, they were all in black, and set fire to things without touching them- do you know anything more about them? Better the devil you know." She added, convincingly.

"Why of _course_ ," Coutas said, gesturing to the hall way, "We have a room dedicated to all the things we know of these monstrosities, come, see for yourself."

Hermione nodded to Arnold and then followed Coutas down the hallway, where they appeared to be alone. A door shut behind them, and Hermione grinned like a shark at his turned back. She charmed the room so that no one would be able to hear them, and similarly that they wouldn't be able to hear anyone.

Out in the driveway, the rest of the group was standing in a mutual silence. Harry was trying to work out why these people, his worse enemies, were helping him, Tavers was wondering if Hermione would set fire to his new toy once they were done, Yaxley was throwing pebbles at a particularly stubborn siamese cat, and Antonin was looking at his company wondering how in Christ he got himself into these situations. Bellatrix was the only one who seemed to be focused on the task in hand, flipping the galleon high into the air and catching it again as if she'd had much practice at it.

The coin span around in the sunlight, heads, tails, a hundred times, and then landed safely back in Bellatrix's grasp.

"Harry." She said suddenly, too distracted by the development to remember not to call him by his first name. "You're up." The coin had grown hot in her hand.

"Up for what?" Harry asked saltily.

"You heard the lady." Tavers said. "Get your ass in there and get those idiots into that hedge maze. _Now_."

Harry looked from Bellatrix, to Tavers, and decided the house would probably be a mercy. He scowled at them both and then stalked off, retracing Hermione's steps to the Manor house. He walked straight in, unlocking the door with magic and revelling in how good it felt to have a wand, even if looking at it left a bad taste in his mouth. He pushed some crystal vases on the floor, the sounds of their smashing echoing loudly. At a loss, he ambled his way through the house until he came across a glass house full of people, who appeared to be eating breakfast.

It was a few seconds before any one looked up and noticed him, but when they did, it was a double take, followed by a total uproar.

"Harry Potter! It's Potter!"

"Potter!"

"Someone grab him!"

"He looks awful!"

"He's a wizard, of course he looks awful!"

Harry ran through the room, smashed the glass doors open with a weak Bombarda- a weak one being all he could really manage- and aimed for the hedges which he assumed were the outsides of the maze, followed by a long line of retired men in various states of dress ranging from pyjama robes and slippers, to tuxedos.

In the house, Arnold Gibson was peering through the window along side the younger Manderly.

"What on earth are they doing?" He said, perplexed, as nearly twenty of his men ran in a line across the gardens, some still holding croissants and butter knives.

"They appear to be chasing someone." James said, leaning to open the window. The name 'Potter' travelled to them on the morning breeze within seconds.

"Potter? Potter! Goodness gracious, Potter!" Arnold stumbled through the room towards the closest entrance to the grounds to join the chase, now with both the Manderly's in tow.

The ruckus could be heard from the end of the drive way, and Bellatrix couldn't help but smile. Hermione was a lot smarter than even _she_ gave her credit for sometimes.

"So, Coutas."

The man pretending to be Charles Henry froze instantly. he turned, slowly, and regarded Hermione like a rabbit might regard a fox.

"Who told you that name?" He snapped quickly, noticing how Hermione had moved to block the door.

"My former master. The Dark Lord; you remember him, don't you?"

George's eyes flittered down to her forearm and back. "You don't bare the mark." He said, accusingly.

"No, I don't. It's a long story. But hey, George; we're all friends here."

"I'm no friend of yours." He spat. "Identify yourself, witch." He sneered.

"Black. Hermione."

Coutas reminded Hermione of a young Tom Riddle. "You're bluffing." His face twitched and betrayed him.

"Oh, really- because, you know, Bella's just out there in the drive way if you'd like to meet her?"

Coutas' eyes flicked back to the door, and she saw the idea pas behind his eyes.

"Go ahead, call for help, your pet muggles are chasing the boy who lived through your hedge maze. No one will come for you."

He paled. "You- I know you, know the things you've done- King's Cross- that was you, wasn't it? Belarus, the wedding massacre- you. And everyone knows who Bellatrix is-"

Something about hearing Bellatrix's name on his dirty little tongue irked Hermione. "As flattering as it is to know that even an embarrassment of a ex-wizard such as yourself knows of my wife and I's career, that's really not what I'm here for."

"And? What are you here for? What do you want?" Coutas was trying to back away.

Hermione flicked her wand. "Silence." She said, as the man who would be Charles Henry slumped onto the floor, hitting his head off his desk as he went down.

Now that he was knocked out, Hermione rifled through his thoughts leisurely, pulling out once she had what she wanted. With precision, she vaulted the desk that barred her way and wrenched open a the bottom draw hard enough to take it clean off its runners. Gripping the sides of the box, she threw the contents of the draw over her shoulder with a crash and then sat it back down on the desk top, aiming her wand at it.

A quick spell, and the false bottom of the draw lifted away gracefully, only to join the rest of the draw's contents on the plush carpet. Inside was an old, tattered looking note book, which smelled of dust, secrets, and years.

"Thank you!" Hermione chirped to Coutas' unconscious form, stepping on him carelessly as she left the room.

Harry's abused body was beginning to fail as he sprinted around tight corners and down narrow pathways.

Several times he had come to a dead end and without the time to back track, had had to force himself through the sharp branches and razor leaves to continue. His arms were shredded, his jacket had been abandoned after tearing it in his hurry, his cheek bleeding and covered in grainy earth that had clung to the branch that had cut him.

"Where's he gone?"

"He's in here somewhere!"

The shouts followed him, some closer than others as he reached the centre of the maze, a large granite boulder with water flowing down the left hand side into a small moat.

He waited as long as he dared, before spinning on the spot, and hoping to god he didn't splinch to top his day off.

"Well, that's that done." Hermione sighed as she threw the notebook to the only one she completely trusted with it.

Bellatrix caught it easily and dodged to the right as Harry appeared, sweating and covered in bloody cuts at her feet.

"Has he splinched?" Yaxley asked, not at all in a rush to help him if he had.

"No." Hermione said curtly, kicking him in the shins as she walked past. He struggled back up off the ground for what felt like the tenth time that day, wheezing terribly.

"Do we have what we need?" Tavers asked looking around at his friends.

"Yes, I think s- oh, wait, I just remembered. One more thing. Fiendfyre."

Bellatrix cursed at her lack of intervention as Hermione's magic blazed a black trail down the garden and engulfed the house like the flame around a particularly boozy christmas pudding.

"Hermione Black-"

Hermione sighed as she let the fiendfyre go, pleased that it was focused sufficiently on the house.

She looked at Bellatrix expectantly, waiting for the telling off.

"That was… That was-" Bellatrix looked back to the house and then to Hermione's waiting expression. "Actually quite impressive." Bellatrix caved.

Hermione smiled and leaned forwards, kissing her wife just long enough to make the boys look away, or cough, or scuff their shoes on the ground.

"Come along, then." Antonin prompted eventually, making Hermione smile against her wife's lips.

Tavers petted his Limo goodbye, and Hermione directed them to the safest place she could imagine with a series of short cracks.


End file.
